Friday, August 31, 2012
Carnival of Space #264 is here!
Carnival of Space #264 is now up at Tomorrow is Here. There are tributes to Neil Armstrong, detecting alien starships, the Plank satellite, more images from Curiosity and much much more. Zap on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
Blue Moon Tonight
Tonight, Friday August 31, is a Blue Moon. In modern usage, a Blue Moon is the second Full Moon in a month. As well, the memorial service for Neil Armstrong will be held on the this day, so when you look up at the (not actually blue) Blue Moon tonight, give it a wink in his memory.
Labels: Moon
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Blogging suspended, at Bill Bailey Concert
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Zooming (in) to the Moon
Via the Bad Astronomer, an amazing high resolution zoomable Lunar Mosaic.
The image of the Last Quarter Moon is stitched together from 166 individual images. Wow!
Labels: astrophotography, Moon
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 30 to Thursday September 6
The Full Moon is Friday August 31 and it is a Blue Moon. Mars, Saturn and the star
Spica form a triangle in the western evening sky. In the morning
skies
Jupiter and Venus can be readily seen amongst some beautiful constellations.
Morning sky on Saturday August 1 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local
time in South Australia. Jupiter below the Hyades makes a long triangle with the red star Betelgeuse and Venus. The
left inset shows the location of the Moons of Jupiter at this time.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time
(click to embiggen).
The Full Moon is Friday August 31, it is a Blue Moon. In modern usage, a Blue Moon is the second Full Moon in a month.
Jupiter is now easily seen in the early morning sky. Jupiter is below the Hyades over the week.
With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion close by, this is a beautiful morning sight.
Jupiter's Moons are a delight anytime, but on the morning of the 4th there is a transit of Io and an eclipse of Europa. Well worth a look in even a small telescope.
Bright white Venus is high above the eastern horizon. Venus looks like a waxing Moon when seen through even a small telescope.
Jupiter, Venus and the red star Betelgeuse in Orion form a long triangle in the sky. Venus, Betelgeuse and Procyon form another triangle and there is a larger triangle with Jupiter, Sirius and Venus.
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Mars is in the constellation of Virgo but enters Libra by the end of the week. Mars is brightest object in the north-western sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars sets shortly before 10:30 pm local time.
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.
Evening sky looking west as seen
from Adelaide at 9:00 pm local time on Saturday September 1. Mars, Saturn and the bright star Spica
form a triangle. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click
to embiggen.
Saturn is above the north-western horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is still high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the early evening, although not for long.
Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a good time for telescopic views of this ringed world in the early evening, although you will have only a very short viewing tie before Saturn is too low to observe. Saturn sets around 9:30 local time
Mars, Saturn and the bright white star Spica from a long but attractive triangle in the evening sky. Over the week, the triangle becomes larger as Mars moves away from Saturn and Spica.
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 AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. 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 Full Moon is Friday August 31, it is a Blue Moon. In modern usage, a Blue Moon is the second Full Moon in a month.
Jupiter is now easily seen in the early morning sky. Jupiter is below the Hyades over the week.
With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion close by, this is a beautiful morning sight.
Jupiter's Moons are a delight anytime, but on the morning of the 4th there is a transit of Io and an eclipse of Europa. Well worth a look in even a small telescope.
Bright white Venus is high above the eastern horizon. Venus looks like a waxing Moon when seen through even a small telescope.
Jupiter, Venus and the red star Betelgeuse in Orion form a long triangle in the sky. Venus, Betelgeuse and Procyon form another triangle and there is a larger triangle with Jupiter, Sirius and Venus.
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Mars is in the constellation of Virgo but enters Libra by the end of the week. Mars is brightest object in the north-western sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars sets shortly before 10:30 pm local time.
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-western horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is still high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the early evening, although not for long.
Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a good time for telescopic views of this ringed world in the early evening, although you will have only a very short viewing tie before Saturn is too low to observe. Saturn sets around 9:30 local time
Mars, Saturn and the bright white star Spica from a long but attractive triangle in the evening sky. Over the week, the triangle becomes larger as Mars moves away from Saturn and Spica.
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 AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. 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, August 27, 2012
Mars, Spica and Saturn 26 August, 2012
 |  |
| The line-up of the Mars (top middle), Saturn (right) and the star Spica (left) imaged on 26 August 2012 at 6:45 pm ACST from Adelaide, Australia. Image taken with a Canon IXUS at ASA 400, 15 second exposure. (click to embiggen) | The line up on 26 August (3x Zoom, 15 secs exposure ASA 400) |
After a few days of cloud and rain, the skies sort of cleared up again.
Previous images of the line-up here, here, here and here
Labels: Conjunction, Mars, Saturn
In Memoriam Neil Armstrong
In honour of Neil Armstrong, who died yesterday at the age of 82, I got my family and our visiting hemi-demi relatives to wink at the Moon. Then I got my small telescope out and showed them Mare Tranquillitatis, the Sea of Tranquillity, where Neil made his epic step.
The I showed them the triangle of Mars, Saturn and Spica, then showed them Saturn and Mars through the telescope.
As a geek child I was obsessed with the missions to the Moon, we had a copy of National Geographic with a fold out of the Apollo instument panel, and I used to sit in frontof it pressing the pictures buttons and switches and imagining it was me going to the Moon.
I clearly remember the moment when Neil stepped on the Moon, seen on our tiny, grainy black and white TV. Unfortunately, I can't remember anything before of after that section. Perhaps my memories have been suborned to the continual replay of that iconic image.
Regardless, Neil was one of my heroes, the first person to set foot on another world. And I will honour his memory by showing people the wonders of the sky and the strangely shaped patch on the Moons' face where humans once walked (and, of course, winking).
If anybody wants to send me images of the Moon they took while winking at it, I will be pleased to post them.
Another way you can honour Neil's memory is to help Map the Moon.
A series of interviews with Neil Armstrong, strangely with an Australian accountant, can be found here.
A report on the ABC online news site is here.
6 memorable letters from Neil Armstrong are here.
The Bad Astronomers take is here.
And finally, this XKCD cartoon is very appropriate.
Labels: history, Moon, spacecraft
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Wink at The Moon Tonight
Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on the Moon, died earlier today at age 82. The family of Neil has asked that when people look up at the Moon, to wink at it in memory of him.Labels: history, Moon, spacecraft
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Mars, Spica, Saturn and Moon 22 August, 2012
 |  |
| The line-up of the Moon, Mars (top middle), Saturn (right) and the star Spica (left) imaged on 22 August 2012 at 6:45 pm ACST from Adelaide, Australia. Image taken with a Canon IXUS at ASA 400, 15 second exposure. (click to embiggen) | The line up on 22 August(3x Zoom, 8 secs exposure ASA 400) |
The cloud which had socked us in all day cleared up enough for me to take these images. I tried various exposure times, trying to balance overexposing the waxing but still crescent Moon with underexposing the stars.
Previous images of the line-up here, here and here
Labels: astrophotography, Conjunction, Mars, Moon, Saturn
Combating Cosmophobia - Articles and Videos to Help People Understand Why the World Won't End in 2012
As December 2012 rolls towards us we will have more and more people worried about apocalyptic predictions of the end (or at least severe discomfort) of the world from imagined astronomical phenomena.
Well, via Andrew Fraknoi of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific there are some links that will be very useful in combating these fears.
The journal "Astronomy Education Review" has just published a guide to accessible written and audio-visual materials which cover most of the issues Doom merchants misrepresent or misunderstand.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2012021
As well, a video recording of the "Doomsday 2012 and Cosmophobia" plenary session from the “Communicating Science Conference” held Tuesday August 7, 2012 by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific has now been posted by NASA's LunarScience Institute at:
http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/articles/cosmophobia/
Well, via Andrew Fraknoi of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific there are some links that will be very useful in combating these fears.
The journal "Astronomy Education Review" has just published a guide to accessible written and audio-visual materials which cover most of the issues Doom merchants misrepresent or misunderstand.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2012021
As well, a video recording of the "Doomsday 2012 and Cosmophobia" plenary session from the “Communicating Science Conference” held Tuesday August 7, 2012 by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific has now been posted by NASA's LunarScience Institute at:
http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/articles/cosmophobia/
From Andrews email: The panel, held Aug. 7, 2012 in Tucson, Arizona, includes astronomers, educators, and an expert on Mayan civilization. Panelists examine some of the key claims about end-of-the-world predictions and the more general idea of "cosmophobia" -- fear of celestial events and phenomena. And they answer questions from educators in the audience.Anyone interested in science communication should look over these resources, even if you don't have to deal with Nibiru or Mayan Calendars.
The website also includes an overview letter from Dr. David Morrison (of NASA and the SETI Institute) and links to useful resources.
Labels: Pseudoscience, science communicators
Carnival of Space #263 is Here!
Carnival of Space #263 is now up at Dear Astronomer. There's Hover Bikes, lots more Curiosity news, plate tectonics on Mars, Dawn preparing to leave Vesta and much, much more. Zip on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
The Moon visits the triangle of Mars, Spica and Saturn tonight (Wednesday 22 August)
Mars, Saturn and the bright white star Spica from an attractive triangle in the sky.
Tonight, Wednesday 22 August, the crescent Moon is close to Mars in this triangle, making a very attractive sight. look to the west from around an hour after sunset until around 9:30 for good views to this conjunction.
Labels: Conjunction, Mars, Moon, Saturn
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Mars, Spica and Saturn 20 August, 2012
 |  |
| The line-up of Mars, (middle) Saturn (right) and the star Spica (left) imaged on 20 August 2012 at 6:30 pm ACST from Adelaide, Australia. Image taken with a Canon IXUS at ASA 400, 15 second exposure. (click to embiggen) | The line up on 20 August(3x Zoom, 15 secs exposure ASA 400) |
The crescent Moon peeks out through the clouds as Mars draws further away from Saturn and Spica. On Wednesday 22 August the crescent Moon will be just above Mars, making for an interesting line-up. (previous images of the line-up here and here).
Labels: astrophotography, Conjunction, Mars, Moon, Saturn
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 23 to Thursday August 30
The First Quarter Moon is Friday August 24. Mars, Saturn and the star
Spica form a triangle in the western sky. This grouping is visited by the waxing Moon on the 23rd. In the morning
skies
Jupiter and Venus can be readily seen amongst some beautiful constellations.
Morning sky on Sunday August 26 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local
time in South Australia. Jupiter below the Hyades making a long triangle with the red star Betelgeuse and Venus.The Pleiades cluster is close by. The right inset shows the telescopic view of Venus. The left inset shows the location of the Moons of Jupiter at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
The First Quarter Moon is Friday August 24.
Jupiter is now easily seen in the early morning sky. Jupiter is below the Hyades over the week.
With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion close by, this is a beautiful morning sight.
Jupiter's Moons are a delight anytime, but on the morning of the 28th Jupiter's satellites are clustered close to Jupiter, with an occultation of of Europa. Well worth a look in even a small telescope.
Bright white Venus is high above the eastern horizon. Venus looks like a half Moon when seen through even a small telescope.
Jupiter, Venus and the red star Betelgeuse in Orion form a long triangle in the sky. Venus, Betelgeuse and Procyon form another triangle
Mercury is low in the twilight.It will be enormously difficult to see unless you have a flat level horizon like the sea.
Mars is in the constellation of Virgo. It's brightest object in the north-western sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars sets shortly after 10:30 pm local time. On Thursday 23 August the waxing Moon is above 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.
Evening sky looking west as seen
from Adelaide at 9:00 pm local time on Thursday
August 23. Mars, Saturn and the bright star Spica
form a triangle. The waxing Moon is not far above the triangle.
Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click
to embiggen.
Saturn is above the north-western horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is still high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the early evening, although not for long. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a good time for telescopic views of this ringed world in the early evening.
Mars, Saturn and the bright white star Spica from an attractive triangle in the evening sky at the beginning of the week. Over the week, the triangle becomes larger as Mars moves away from Saturn and Spica. On Thursday 23 August the waxing Moon is above Mars in this triangle.
With Saturn still modestly high in the sky in te early evening, 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 AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. 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 First Quarter Moon is Friday August 24.
Jupiter is now easily seen in the early morning sky. Jupiter is below the Hyades over the week.
With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion close by, this is a beautiful morning sight.
Jupiter's Moons are a delight anytime, but on the morning of the 28th Jupiter's satellites are clustered close to Jupiter, with an occultation of of Europa. Well worth a look in even a small telescope.
Bright white Venus is high above the eastern horizon. Venus looks like a half Moon when seen through even a small telescope.
Jupiter, Venus and the red star Betelgeuse in Orion form a long triangle in the sky. Venus, Betelgeuse and Procyon form another triangle
Mercury is low in the twilight.It will be enormously difficult to see unless you have a flat level horizon like the sea.
Mars is in the constellation of Virgo. It's brightest object in the north-western sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars sets shortly after 10:30 pm local time. On Thursday 23 August the waxing Moon is above 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 north-western horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is still high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the early evening, although not for long. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a good time for telescopic views of this ringed world in the early evening.
Mars, Saturn and the bright white star Spica from an attractive triangle in the evening sky at the beginning of the week. Over the week, the triangle becomes larger as Mars moves away from Saturn and Spica. On Thursday 23 August the waxing Moon is above Mars in this triangle.
With Saturn still modestly high in the sky in te early evening, 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 AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. 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, August 20, 2012
No, there will not be planets aligned over the top of the pyramids
There is a picture doing the rounds at the moment that allegedly shows a simulation in Starry Night Pro of how the pyramids will look on December 3, 2012. Each pyramid has a planet glowing over their tips. This is the blurb that accompanies the image.
Planetary alignment that will take place Dec 3, 2012 is dead-on alignment with the Pyramids at Giza. Night Sky in Giza, Egypt on December 3, 2012, local time … one hour before sunrise compared with the Pyramids at Giza.There is only one teeny tiny problem ... the sky over Giza will look nothing like this on 3 December, 2012 one hour before sunrise.
The second is the Pyramids orientation in the alleged simulated image. The image shows the planets floating over the Pyramids ... to the north-west! The planetary alignment will be in the south-east, you just won't see them like that.
Tip of the hat to David Greg who pointed the non-alignment out first.
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The orientation of the pyramids at Giza, the only way for the pyramids of the Queens to show up in the alleged simulated image is if you are looking north-east up the line of pyramids. For the planets to line up with the tips of the pyramids they would need to be in the north-west.
Which is impossible as the planets rise in the south east.
Labels: Conjunction, Mercury, Pseudoscience, Saturn, Venus
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Mars, Spica and Saturn 18-19 August, 2012
 |  |
| The line-up of Mars, (middle) Saturn (right) and the star Spica (left) imaged on 18 August 2012 at 6:30 pm ACST from Adelaide, Australia. Image taken with a Canon IXUS at ASA 400, 15 second exposure. (click to embiggen) | The line-up of Mars, (middle) Saturn (right) and the star Spica (left) imaged on 19 August 2012 at 6:30 pm ACST from Adelaide, Australia. Image taken with a Canon IXUS at ASA 400, 15 second exposure. (click to embiggen) |
 |  |
| The line up on 18 August(3x Zoom, 15 secs exposure ASA 400) | The line up on 19 August(3x Zoom, 15 secs exposure ASA 400) |
After days of pelting rain and cloud, the line-up of Mars, Spica and Saturn is visible again (previous images here).
Labels: Conjunction, Mars, Saturn
Open Day University of Adelaide 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Earthquakes and Alignments Again
On August 14 a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred of
the coast of Japan. A prediction had been posted that the planetary alignment
of August 14 would produce significant earthquakes. Did the Japan earthquake fulfil the prediction?
This, allegedly, is an earthquake producing alignment, despite everything being all over the place. The Venus Moon alignment is at a significant angle to the Earth-Sun axis. Jupiter is way off (click to embiggen).
June 4, 2 days before the transit of Venus. Full Moon lined up with Venus 3 degrees from the Sun, Mercury and Jupiter within 15 degrees of the Sun. Altogether a much more favourable line-up for earthquakes - yet nothing happened.
Next you have to consider all the alignments that didn't have a 7+ earthquake associated with them. 51 of 53 alignments had no 7+ earthquake associated with them, that's an impressive miss rate.
Particularly if we consider the alignments of 4 June, 18 June and 15 July. On 4 June, two days before the transit of Venus, The Sun and full Moon were aligned and Venus was within 3 degrees of the Sun. Jupiter and Mercury were within 15 degrees of the Sun.
The following table shows the tidal forces of the Sun, the Moon, and the
planets compared to that of the Sun (set at 1).
Alignments are lovely to watch. But that is the sole extent of their influence of Earth.
Short answer: no.
This, allegedly, is an earthquake producing alignment, despite everything being all over the place. The Venus Moon alignment is at a significant angle to the Earth-Sun axis. Jupiter is way off (click to embiggen).
To explain why, we need to briefly consider
statistics. In any given year there are, on average 26338 earthquakes, and 16
of these are magnitude 7 and above. In general, earthquakes occur at random
[1], so what is the probability that a 7+ earthquake would occur on the date of
the alignment by chance alone?
The probability that a 7+ earthquake will occur on any specified day in a year is 1/24. This is hardly wildly improbable, and it is plausible this alignment and the quake are coincident by chance alone.
The probability that a 7+ earthquake will occur on any specified day in a year is 1/24. This is hardly wildly improbable, and it is plausible this alignment and the quake are coincident by chance alone.
But in fact the probability the August 14 event is by
chance alone is much more likely, because you need to consider all
alignments in a given 365 day span.
If we take "alignment" to mean when a
minimum of two planetary bodies are within 5 degrees of each other, or 5 degrees
from directly opposite each other (like full Moons/new Moons and the Sun), then
in the 365 day period since 14 August 2011, there were 53 alignments
of the bright planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon [2]. Thus, by
chance alone we should see two planetary alignments occurring on the
same day as a 7+ magnitude earthquake in this time period.
The August 14 quake scrapes in as the Venus-Moon
alignment was on the 13th, and the Mars-Saturn alignment was on the 15th. So
the likelihood that we have seen this result by chance alone is pretty much a
certainty.
June 4, 2 days before the transit of Venus. Full Moon lined up with Venus 3 degrees from the Sun, Mercury and Jupiter within 15 degrees of the Sun. Altogether a much more favourable line-up for earthquakes - yet nothing happened. Next you have to consider all the alignments that didn't have a 7+ earthquake associated with them. 51 of 53 alignments had no 7+ earthquake associated with them, that's an impressive miss rate.
Particularly if we consider the alignments of 4 June, 18 June and 15 July. On 4 June, two days before the transit of Venus, The Sun and full Moon were aligned and Venus was within 3 degrees of the Sun. Jupiter and Mercury were within 15 degrees of the Sun.
If we were going to see 7+
earthquakes this alignment should do it. But it didn't. The alignments of 18
June and 15 July were very similar to that of 13 August, but were devoid of 7+
quakes (indeed, June and July were the quietest months for earthquakes since 14
August 2011). The results are entirely consistent with chance.
Now let's consider plausibility. It is plausible that
tidal forces could increase earthquakes, after all, the tidal force of the Moon
causes the crust of the earth to flex by as much as 30 cm, it's possible this flexing
could set off a quake that is close happening spontaneously.
However, earthquakes in general are not more common at the times of full or new Moon, when the tidal forces of the Sun and Moon are aligned and tides are at their highest.
However, earthquakes in general are not more common at the times of full or new Moon, when the tidal forces of the Sun and Moon are aligned and tides are at their highest.
Maybe the addition of extra planetary tidal forces
could do the trick?
No
Tidal force drops off as the cube of the distance, the
tidal force of Jupiter is 0.000033 that of the Moon. Also, for the effects
to truly add up, the Sun, Moon and planets have to be precisely aligned.
The alignments favoured by the various websites around the 'net have alignments that are completely ineffective, being more than 25 degrees away from the Solar new/full Moon axis. Remember that the highest tides (of both water and the Earth's crust) occur at Full and New Moon, when the Sun and Moon are aligned, the lowest tides are at last quarter Moon, when the Moon is at 90 degrees to the Sun-Earth axis.
The alignments favoured by the various websites around the 'net have alignments that are completely ineffective, being more than 25 degrees away from the Solar new/full Moon axis. Remember that the highest tides (of both water and the Earth's crust) occur at Full and New Moon, when the Sun and Moon are aligned, the lowest tides are at last quarter Moon, when the Moon is at 90 degrees to the Sun-Earth axis.
| Sun | 1 |
| Moon | 2.14 |
| Mercury | 0.000,000,15 |
| Venus | 0.000,0017 |
| Mars | 0.000,000,066 |
| Jupiter | 0.000,066 |
| Saturn | 0.000,000,33 |
| Uranus | 0.000,000,0062 |
| Neptune | 0.000,000,0019 |
| Pluto | 0.000,000,000,0061 |
Indeed, the Venus-Moon alignment of August 14 is opposed by the
Mars-Saturn alignment. So we would expect a lower chance of a planet-induced
earthquake (if not for the fact the tidal forces is so insanely tiny).
What about the idea that the planetary alignments are causing
resonances, amplifying the lunar tidal effects? Mensur Omerbashich uses the metaphor of soldiers marching in lock-step, where the repeated simultaneous foot falls of
the soldiers set up a bridge destroying resonance. However, in this case we
have one soldier (the Moon), whose footfalls occur with a 14 day rthym, next to
him a grass hopper (Jupiter) who jumps before the soldiers boot strikes the
bridge, and an ant (Venus) who also jumps before the soldiers boot falls, but
at a different time from the grasshopper. As well, the timing of the jumps of
the grasshopper and ant changes from footfall to footfall, so there is no
regular pattern to them.
Nope, not resonance.[3]
The August 14 quake is exactly what we would expect from
a earthquake and aligment occuring together by chance. This is re-enforced by
the large number of alignments which fail to produce alignments, and a lack of
a plausible mechanism for alignments to cause earthquakes.
Alignments are lovely to watch. But that is the sole extent of their influence of Earth.
[1] There are occasional earthquake clusters in an
active zone, and aftershocks in a major earthquake, but for 7+ magnitude quakes
they are close enough to being randomly distributed for our purposes.
[2] This is much more restrictive than the alignment earthquake
predictors, who add in Mercury, Uranus and Neptune to the mix, regardless of
their miniscule tidal effects, and separations of up to 15 degrees. Also, they
tend to include the days either side of the alignment which increases the
probability you will see alignment just by chance.
[3] I am well aware of the limitations of the
metaphor, but the point is that you need some consistent peiodicity, and decent
mass, for resonance systems to work. Planetary alignments just don't fit the
bill.
[4] More information on earthquakes and astronomical phenomena here.
[4] More information on earthquakes and astronomical phenomena here.
Labels: Conjunction, earthquakes, Mars, Pseudoscience, Saturn, Venus
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Earth and Saturn as Seen from Mars, 14 August 2012
 |  |
| The morning sky as seen from the Curiosity Landing site on August 14 as simulated in Stellarium | The evening sky as seen from the Curiosity Landing site on August 14 as simulated in Stellarium |
With the beautiful morning and evening displays we have seen from Earth today (Augustt 14), what did the sky look like on Mars today? Here's what the view from Curiosities landing site looked like on the day of the landing for comparison. Earlier versions (not from Curiosities site) from May 2012 are here, February 2012 is here and November 2011 is here.
Labels: Earth, Mars, Saturn, Venus
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The Line-up of Mars, Saturn and Spica, August 14, 2012
 |  |
| The line-up of Mars, (middle) Saturn (right) and the star SPica (left) imaged on 14 August 2012 at 8:35 pm ACST from Adelaide, Australia. Image taken with a Canon IXUS at ASA 400, 15 second exposure. (click to embiggen) | The line up on 9 August, with a cosmos satellite shooting through the arrangement (click to embiggen), In this and the following images (all 3x Zoom, 15 secs exposure ASA 400) you can see how the planets move together. |
 |  |
| 11 August | 12 August |
 | |
| 14 August |
Labels: astrophotography, Conjunction, Mars, Saturn
Daylight Venus 14 August 2012
Todays close apposition of the Moon and Venus was an excellent time to locate Venus in the daytime.
Venus was easily visible near the Moon half an hour after sunset, and was still readily visible nearly 3 hours later (although the drifting cloud didn't help).
Photographing it was another matter, using a 3x zoom I was able to image Venus and the Moon with my Cannon IXUS on program mode ASA 400, but as you can see it is only just visible (but then again, so is the Moon). More on seeing Venus and other astronomical objects in the daylight here.
Labels: Daylight, Daytime, Moon, Venus
Venus and the Moon, August 14, 2012
 |  |
| The Moon between Venus and Jupiter as seen on the 13th of August from Adelaide, around 6:10 am (click to embiggen) | The Moon above Venus as seen on the 14th of August from Adelaide, around 6:00 am (click to embiggen) |
 |  |
| Close up of the Moon and Venus at 6:05 am, with Earthlight (click to embiggen) | Close up of Moon and Venus around 6:30 am with artistic clouds (click to embiggen) |
The sky last night was completely socked in, so I got up just before 6 am without much hope of seeing anything. But there turned out to be enough gaps in the clouds to get a decent view of this beautiful event. All images taken with my Canon IXUS at ASA 400 and exposures from 8 to 2 seconds. When zoomed the zoom factor is 3x.
Monday, August 13, 2012
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 16 to Thursday August 23
The New Moon is Saturday August 18. Mars, Saturn and the star
Spica form a triangle in the western sky. This grouping is visited by the waxing Moon on the 22nd. In the morning
skies
Jupiter and Venus can be readily seen.
Morning sky on Sunday August 19 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local
time in South Australia. Jupiter below the Hyades not far from Venus, making a long triangle with the red star Betelgeuse.The Pleiades cluster
is close by. The right
inset shows the telescopic view of Venus. The left inset shows the
location of the Moons of Jupiter at this time. Similar
views will
be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen).
The New Moon is Saturday August 18 (17 in WA).
Jupiter climbs higher in the morning sky and is now easy to see. Jupiter is below the Hyades over the week.
With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion close by, this is a beautiful morning sight.
Jupiter's Moons are a delight anytime, but on the morning of the 19th. Once more Jupiter's satellites play hide and seek with an eclipse of Io and a transit of Europa. Well worth a look in even a small telescope.
Bright white Venus is the highest it will be above the horizon for the rest of the year. Venus looks like a half Moon when seen through even a small telescope.
Jupiter, Venus and the red star Betelgeuse in Orion form a long triangle in the sky.
Mercury is low in the twilight.It will be enormously difficult to see unless you have a flat level horizon like the sea.
Mars is in the constellation of Virgo. It's brightest object in the north-western sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars sets shortly after 10:30 pm local time. On Wednesday 22 August the crescent 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.
Evening sky looking west as seen
from Adelaide at 9:00 pm local time on Wednesday
August 22. Mars, Venus Saturn and the bright star Spica form a triangle. The crescent Moon joins the triangle very close to Mars. (Hat tip again to Dean male for finding the typo).
Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click
to embiggen.
Saturn is above the north-western horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is still high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the early evening. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a good time for telescopic views of this ringed world in the early evening.
Mars, Saturn and the bright white star Spica from an attractive triangle in the evening sky at the beginning of the week. Over the week, the triangle becomes larger as Mars moves away from Saturn and Spica. On Wednesday 22 August the crescent Moon is close to Mars in this triangle.
With Saturn still modestly high in the sky in te early evening, 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 AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. 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 New Moon is Saturday August 18 (17 in WA).
Jupiter climbs higher in the morning sky and is now easy to see. Jupiter is below the Hyades over the week.
With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion close by, this is a beautiful morning sight.
Jupiter's Moons are a delight anytime, but on the morning of the 19th. Once more Jupiter's satellites play hide and seek with an eclipse of Io and a transit of Europa. Well worth a look in even a small telescope.
Bright white Venus is the highest it will be above the horizon for the rest of the year. Venus looks like a half Moon when seen through even a small telescope.
Jupiter, Venus and the red star Betelgeuse in Orion form a long triangle in the sky.
Mercury is low in the twilight.It will be enormously difficult to see unless you have a flat level horizon like the sea.
Mars is in the constellation of Virgo. It's brightest object in the north-western sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars sets shortly after 10:30 pm local time. On Wednesday 22 August the crescent 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 north-western horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is still high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the early evening. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a good time for telescopic views of this ringed world in the early evening.
Mars, Saturn and the bright white star Spica from an attractive triangle in the evening sky at the beginning of the week. Over the week, the triangle becomes larger as Mars moves away from Saturn and Spica. On Wednesday 22 August the crescent Moon is close to Mars in this triangle.
With Saturn still modestly high in the sky in te early evening, 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 AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. 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 #262 is Here!
Carnival of Space #262 is now up at Supernova Condensate. There's lots and lots of Mars stories (wonder why?), astrophysics and the Olympics, crowd-sourcing and space exploration, and much, much more. Zap on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
Sunday, August 12, 2012
More Planetary Awesomness 13-14 August 2012
 |  |
| Evening sky looking west as seen from Adelaide at 8:00 pm local time on Tuesday August 14. Mars, | Morning Sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 |
While the fantastically close apposition between Jupiter and the Moon was great,the sky show has not finished. In the evening, in the west the bright star Spica and the Planets Mars and Saturn have formed a triangle. As the days have worn on the triangle has become narrower and narrower. Finaly, on Tuesday August 14 they will become a straight line.
Morning skis will remain spectacular for a few more days. On the morning of Monday, August 13, the crecent Moon will be between Jupiter and Venus. Then on the morning of Tuesday August 14 the crescent Moon is just above Venus. This will be an excellent opportunity to see Venus in the daylight.
And if are up in the morning, you should keep an eye out for meteors, northern Australians might see a Perseid meteor or two.
Labels: Conjunction, Daylight, Daytime, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Saturn, Venus
Daylight Jupiter 12 August 2012
With the Moon so close to Jupiter, this was a great opportunity to see Jupiter in the daylight. Jupiter was easily visible up until and just beyond sunrise. It was even able to be photographed just on sunrise (see image) and 5 minutes after (although that was a bit more rubbish).
By 20 minutes after sunrise I was able to see Jupiter with some difficultly. Once I found it with averted vision it remained reasonably obvious (not as obvious as Venus of course). In binoculars Jupiter was fairly obvious even 30 minutes after sunrise, when it was near impossible to see with the unaided eye.
Labels: Daylight, Daytime, Jupiter, Moon
Jupiter near the Moon, 12 August 2012
 |  |
| Morning Sky on 12 August at 5:07 am as seen from Adelaide, Jupiter is hard to see against the brightness of the Moon. Venus to below and to the left. (closest approach was 5 minutes ago). Click to embiggen. | Morning Sky on 12 August at 6:10 am as seen from Adelaide, Jupiter is now well clear of the Moon of the Moon. Click to embiggen. |
 |  |
| Jupiter and the Moon imaged through my 4" reflector with a 25 mm Plossul lens and my Canon IXUS via an eyepiece adaptor. Time is 5:52 am, Jupiters Moons are smeared due to Jupiters' movement during the 1/8th second exposure time. Moons are, right to left, Io, Calisto, Ganymede | Time is 5:59 am |
 |  |
| Time is 6:02 am | Time is 6:08 am |
 |  |
| Overlay of the images showing Jupiters' movement. | Moon mosaic |
Although Jupiter wasn't occulted from here in Adelaide, it looked a very fine sight close to the Moon this morning.Because the distance between Jupiter and the Moon was too great for my CCD cam field of view, I used my digital camera adaptor instead. There's a few artefacts from internal reflections and lens fogging, but it worked pretty well. I alos got to see Eurpoa come out from Jupiter (not visible in these images).
Anybody from Darwin or Indonesia see the Occultation?
Labels: astrophotography, Jupiter, Moon
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