Saturday, October 31, 2015
Tonights ISS pass (Saturday 31 October)
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Tonight's ISS pass at 20:50 ACDST. I triggered the camera too late so missed catching the first part of the pass, but it was bright, beautiful and lasted ages. I hope to be able to wake up to catch tomorrows graze of the Moon.
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| Stack of 5 images or the ISS at at its zenith below the star Fomalhaut, 5 x 5 second exposures at ASA 400, CANON IXUS stacked in ImageJ. Click to embiggen. | Animation of the 5 zenith exposures and 3 horizon exposures, images animated in ImageJ.Click to embiggen |
Tonight's ISS pass at 20:50 ACDST. I triggered the camera too late so missed catching the first part of the pass, but it was bright, beautiful and lasted ages. I hope to be able to wake up to catch tomorrows graze of the Moon.
Labels: ISS, unaided eye
Still More Bright International Space Station Passes (31 September - 6 November 2015)
 |  |  |
| The ISS pass from Adelaide on the evening of Saturday September 31 at 20:50 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. | The ISS passes near the Moon, as seen from Adelaide on the morning of Sunday 1 November at 4:57 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. | The ISS passes above Scorpius and the Southern Cross from Adelaide on the evening of Monday November 2 at 20:40 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. |
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| All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 31 October from Adelaide. | All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Sunday 1 November for Adelaide. | All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Monday 2 November from Adelaide. |
Starting tonight (Saturday) there are a series of bright evening passes of the International Space Station lasting a more or less a week depending on where you are. For many places in Australia this series has the ISS being very bright high in the sky, or coming close to Venus, Mars and Jupiter in the Early morning sky. Almost everywhere in Australia will see a bright pass tonight anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30 local time. Example cities are below.
Time Direction Magnitude
| Alice Springs ACST Maximum altitude | 19:47:10 | 58° | 228° (SW) | 481 | -2.7 |
| Adelaide ACDST Maximum altitude | 20:50:05 | 55° | 46° (NE) | 501 | -3.3 |
| Brisbane AEST Maximum altitude | 18:44:42 | 46° | 51° (NE) | 559 | -3.0 |
| Melbourne AEDST Maximum altitude | 21:21:39 | 75° | 42° (NE) | 433 | -3.4 |
Similarly, most of Australia sees the ISS pass not far from the planetary line-up on the morning of the 1st. In Adelaide the ISS passes just under the Moon, in Alice Springs it passes between Venus and Jupiter. Most of the East coast sees it passing between the Hyades and Pleiades.
When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use either Heavens Above or CalSky to get site specific predictions for your location (I'm using Alice Springs, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbouren as examples, and you can see how differnt they are ). Even the difference between the city centre and the suburbs can mean the difference between seeing the ISS go very close to the Moon or over the face of it.
Start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, on the night there may be slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to orbit changes not picked up by the predictions. The ISS will be moving reasonably fast when it passes near Saturn, so be alert to catch the fleeting moment when the pair are close..
Labels: ISS, Moon, unaided eye
Astronomy Live is Live Broadcasting the Asteroid 2015 TB145 flyby (Now)
https://youtu.be/PmAm4QUv-YY
Labels: asteroids, public outreach, webcam
This Mornings Line-Up of Venus, Mars and Jupiter (31 October 2015)
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| The line-up of Mars, Venus and Jupiter at 5:35 am (Mars is below Venus, the brightest object in the scene). Canon IXUS 400 ASA, 1 second exposure. Click to embiggen | The line-up of Mars and Jupiter at 5:35 am (Mars is below Venus, the brightest object in the scene). Canon IXUS 400 ASA, 1,6 seconds exposure 3 x Zoom. Click to embiggen |
Finally got up for the line-up of Jupiter, Venus and Mars. Despite the mournful hoots of the fog horns the sky was clear and the mist did not come over until later. The line up was very lovely this morning. Sadly, the ISS pass was a bust, it should have been bright and easily visible, but I saw naught!
Life intervened so I didn't get to look for 2015 TB145 (instead of setting up remote telescope time I was talking to the Parafeild Air League about finding your way around the sky), but at least I saw the line-up. This will keep on getting better. on November 3 Mars and Venus are closest, and on the 7th and 8th the Moon joins the line up.
Labels: Jupiter, Mars, unaided eye, Venus
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
UPDATED: Watching NEO 2015 TB145 from Australia (31 October, 2015)
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| NEO 2015 TB145 at midnight on 31 October 2015, it is just above the shield of Orion. Click to embiggen. | NEO 2015 TB145 at astronomical twilight on 31 October 2015, it has moved towards the bottom of the shield of Orion. Click to embiggen. |
UPDATED! with charts based on the latest ephemeris.
Near Earth Asteroid 2015 TB145 with an estimated diameter of around 460 m will come relatively close to Earth on 17:01 UT, 31 October (4:01 am 1 Nov AEDST) at distance of 0.003 AU (around 1.3 Earth-Moon distances, ie it is further away from us than the Moon, so there is no chance it will hit us). It is brightest at 14:30 UT on the 31st though (1:30 am 1 Nov AEDST).
At this time the asteroid will be a reasonably bright magnitude 10.1, easily visible in small telescopes and strong astronomical binoculars. Unfortunately from Australia we will be unable to see it as it is in the northern sky, only visible from the northern hemisphere.
Black and white chart suitable for printing showing the track of the
asteroid from midnight to sunrise and beyond on 31 October. The circle
shows the field of view of 10x50 binoculars (although you will not be
able to see it in binoculars, this simulates the FOV of a finder scope).
The asteroid is near Orion's Shield. Tick marks are an 30 minutes apart. Click to embiggen and print. Use the charts up above to orient yourself first.
NEO 2015 TB145 moves from Taurus to Orion, then back into Taurus (crossing the horns of the Bull), into Auriga (where it is brightest) then on to Lynx and beyond.
Australia's best view is on the morning of the 31st, when the asteroid brightens from magnitude 13 to magnitude 12.5. It will be visible in amateur telescopes (as a faint dot), however, the still bright waning Moon 17 degrees away will make it a bit tricky to spot (probably reflectors of 6" and up are needed, not sure about refractors, the bigger the better). Its movement should be obvious over several minutes in a medium power telescope eyepiece.
The asteroid is near Orion's Shield. Tick marks are an 30 minutes apart. Click to embiggen and print. Use the charts up above to orient yourself first.
NEO 2015 TB145 moves from Taurus to Orion, then back into Taurus (crossing the horns of the Bull), into Auriga (where it is brightest) then on to Lynx and beyond.
Australia's best view is on the morning of the 31st, when the asteroid brightens from magnitude 13 to magnitude 12.5. It will be visible in amateur telescopes (as a faint dot), however, the still bright waning Moon 17 degrees away will make it a bit tricky to spot (probably reflectors of 6" and up are needed, not sure about refractors, the bigger the better). Its movement should be obvious over several minutes in a medium power telescope eyepiece.
Black and white chart suitable for printing showing the track of the
asteroid from midnight to sunrise and beyond on 31 October. This chart
is suitable for telescopes. The chart is inverted with respect to the
finder chart above.
The circle is the field of view of a 20 mm eyepiece with a 4" Newtonian reflector scope. Tick marks are 30 minutes apart. Click to embiggen and print. Use the binocular charts up above to orient yourself first
The asteroid is currently magnitude 16.5, and will not really be accessible to modest amateur equipment until the 30th. You can get an accurate ephemeris for your location from the Minor Planet Ephemeris Centre or JPL horizons. While the orbit is pretty well established, it is still best to wait a few more days to generate an ephemeris as even better position data is gathered.
Stellarium chart showing the location of the
asteroid at 4:40 am on 31 October. The chart is in the same orientation and shows most of the same stars, at a slightly different magnification, as the printable chart above. Click to
embiggen.
The circle is the field of view of a 20 mm eyepiece with a 4" Newtonian reflector scope. Tick marks are 30 minutes apart. Click to embiggen and print. Use the binocular charts up above to orient yourself first
The asteroid is currently magnitude 16.5, and will not really be accessible to modest amateur equipment until the 30th. You can get an accurate ephemeris for your location from the Minor Planet Ephemeris Centre or JPL horizons. While the orbit is pretty well established, it is still best to wait a few more days to generate an ephemeris as even better position data is gathered.
Labels: alert, asteroids, NEO, telescope
The Sky This Week - Thursday October 29 to Thursday November 5
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday November 3. Saturn is near the head of the
Scorpion and close to the star Graffias. In the morning the planet dance continues,
Venus moves away from Jupiter and is closest to Mars on the 3rd. The Moon joins the line-up from the 4th. Asteroid 2015 TB145 visible in telescopes on the 31st.
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday November 3.
Evening sky on Sunday October 25 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 20:30 ACST. Saturn is easily visible above the western
horizon in the
head of the Scorpion. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight in the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive back to front "question mark" constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn in its head, is very nice indeed. Saturn is close to the bright star Graffias (Beta1 Scorpius) at the start of the week. Over the next week it moves towards the double star nu Scorpii.
The addition of Saturn to the head of the Scorpion changes it quite a bit, giving it a distinct "hammer head".
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, there is only a narrow window for observation from around 8:30 until around 9:00 pm as it gets too close to the horizon. This is still a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail, they will remain reasonably visible until around 11 pm, although the bright Moon will initially make seeing them difficult.
Early morning sky on Monday November 3 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:30 ACDST showing Venus, Jupiter and Mars. Venus and Mars are at their closest. The Last Quarter Moon joins the picture. Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia. (click
to embiggen).
Jupiter rises higher in the morning skies and may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see it early in the week.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing into darker skies it may still require a reasonably unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus is easy to see in the morning twilight. It is a distinct "half Moon" shape and impressive in a small telescope.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the bright stars Regulus and Procyon form a line in the sky. Venus starts the week close to Jupiter. Over the week Venus draws away from Jupiter and approaches Mars. Mars and Venus will be closest on the 3rd of November. They will be less than a finger width apart, and will fit in a low power telescope eyepiece. However, the brightness of Venus will make photographing the pair together in a Telescope difficult.
More details of the Planet Dance with charts and animation here.
NEO 2015 TB145 at midnight on 31 October 2015, it is just above the shield of Orion. Click to embiggen.
The so called "spooky" Near Earth Asteroid 2015 TB145 will come relatively close to Earth on all hallows eve, 31 October at around 1.3 Earth-Moon distances, ie it is further away from us than the Moon, so there is no chance it will hit us. Unfortunately Australia does not see it at its brightest, but amateurs with a decent telescope will be able to see it on the morning of the 31st.
More details here.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Saturn in the sky. 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.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday November 3.
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight in the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive back to front "question mark" constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn in its head, is very nice indeed. Saturn is close to the bright star Graffias (Beta1 Scorpius) at the start of the week. Over the next week it moves towards the double star nu Scorpii.
The addition of Saturn to the head of the Scorpion changes it quite a bit, giving it a distinct "hammer head".
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, there is only a narrow window for observation from around 8:30 until around 9:00 pm as it gets too close to the horizon. This is still a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail, they will remain reasonably visible until around 11 pm, although the bright Moon will initially make seeing them difficult.
Jupiter rises higher in the morning skies and may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see it early in the week.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing into darker skies it may still require a reasonably unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus is easy to see in the morning twilight. It is a distinct "half Moon" shape and impressive in a small telescope.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the bright stars Regulus and Procyon form a line in the sky. Venus starts the week close to Jupiter. Over the week Venus draws away from Jupiter and approaches Mars. Mars and Venus will be closest on the 3rd of November. They will be less than a finger width apart, and will fit in a low power telescope eyepiece. However, the brightness of Venus will make photographing the pair together in a Telescope difficult.
More details of the Planet Dance with charts and animation here.
NEO 2015 TB145 at midnight on 31 October 2015, it is just above the shield of Orion. Click to embiggen.The so called "spooky" Near Earth Asteroid 2015 TB145 will come relatively close to Earth on all hallows eve, 31 October at around 1.3 Earth-Moon distances, ie it is further away from us than the Moon, so there is no chance it will hit us. Unfortunately Australia does not see it at its brightest, but amateurs with a decent telescope will be able to see it on the morning of the 31st.
More details here.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Saturn in the sky. 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.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky
Monday, October 26, 2015
The Planet Dance Continues (Venus and Jupiter, Venus and Mars, with Added Moon - 27 October - 8 November, 2015)
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| Venus and Jupiter, with Mars nearby, looking east on the morning of 27 October at 5:30 am. (click to embiggen) | Jupiter, with Venus and Mars at their closest, on the morning of 27 October at 5:30 am. (click to embiggen) |
 |  |
| The lineup of Jupiter, crescent Moon, Mars and Venus on the morning of 7 November at 5:30 am. (click to embiggen) | The lineup of Jupiter, Mars, Venus and the crescent Moon,on the morning of 8 November at 5:30 am. (click to embiggen) |
Don't worry if you have missed Mondays conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, although Tuesday morning line-up is not as close, it will still be beautiful.
After this Venus heads towards Mars, making a nice line-up with the bright star Regulus, Jupiter and Mars itself. On the 3rd of November Venu and Mars are at their closest, less than half a fingerwidth apart. The pair will nicely fit into a low power telescope field, although the brightness of Venus makes imaging with Mars difficult.
The waning Moon joins the lineup, and on the 7th of November the crescent Moon is close to Jupiter. The following night the crescent Moon, Mars and Venus make a nice grouping.
So, if you are going to be up early, and have a fairly level eastern horizon, you will have some nice sights over the coming weeks.
Labels: Conjunction, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, telescope, unaided eye, Venus
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Venus Meets Jupiter (morning Monday October 26)
If you have been up early over the past week you wll have seen Venus coming closer to the pair of Jupiter and Mars in the morning sky.
The cumulates with Jupiter and Venus being closest on the morning of the 26th. They will be around a finger width apart (actually 1 degree apart, they will be closest about 7 am AEDST, but it won't be too much different before then), and will just fit in a low power telescope eyepiece. This will look rather nice, although you will not be able to see any detail on the pair, you should see Jupiter's Moons.
The view of Venus and Mars through a 20 mm eyepiece of a 114 mm Newtonian reflector simulated in Stellarium.Venus then moves to a meeting with Mars on the 31st.
Labels: Conjunction, Jupiter, unaided eye, Venus
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
The Sky This Week - Thursday October 22 to Thursday October 29
The Full Moon is Tuesday October 27. Saturn is near the head of the Scorpion and close to the star Graffias on the 25th. Comet C/2013 US10 may be visible in binoculars. In the morning the planet dance continues, Venus is closest to Jupiter on the 26th, with Mars close by. Morning 22nd-23rd, Orionid meteor shower.
The Full Moon is Tuesday October 27. The Moon is at perigee (closest to the Earth) on the 26th.
Evening sky on Sunday October 25 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 21:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible above the western
horizon near the
head of the Scorpion . Comet C/2013 US10
is visible in telescopes (and possibly binoculars) very low above the horizon. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight very close to (and then in) the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive back to front "question mark" constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn in its head, is very nice indeed. Saturn has been moving closer to the bright star Graffias (Beta1 Scorpius) over the past few weeks, and comes closest on the 25th, when it is around half a finger width away.
The addition of Saturn to the head of the Scorpion changes it quite a bit.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, there is only a narrow window for telescope observation from around 8:30 until around 9:30 pm as it gets too close to the horizon. This is still a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail, they will remain reasonably visible until midnight.
Comet C/2013 US10 is now just above the horizon, and this will the last week it is visible from the Southern Hemisphere before it comes too close to the sun and enters the northern hemipshere. The window for observation is quite short and it has failed to brighten as we hoped. A black and white spotters map is here.
Early morning sky on Monday October 26 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:30 ACDST showing Venus, Jupiter and Mars. Venus and Jupiter are at their closest. Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia. (click
to embiggen).
Jupiter rises higher in the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing into darker skies it may still require a reasonably unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus is easy to see in the morning twilight. It is a distinct "half Moon" shape and impressive in a small telescope.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the bright stars Regulus and Procyon form a line in the sky. Over the week Venus comes closer to the pair of Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter and Venus will be closest on the 26th. They will be around a finger width apart, and will just fit in a low power telescope eyepiece.
Venus then moves to a meeting with Mars on the 31st.
Morning sky as seen from Adelaide facing north-east at 4:00 am ACDST on
23 October, the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The Orionids are a worthwhile shower that somewhat favours the Southern Hemisphere,best seen between 2-5 am, the radiant, the point where meteors appear to originate from, being just under Betelgueuse, the bright red star in Orion.
If you draw an imaginary line between Procyon and Aldebaran, then drop another imaginary line from Betelgeuse to the horizon, the radiant is just next to the intersection of those two lines. You can see more deatils and viewing tips here.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Saturn in the sky. 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 Tuesday October 27. The Moon is at perigee (closest to the Earth) on the 26th.
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight very close to (and then in) the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive back to front "question mark" constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn in its head, is very nice indeed. Saturn has been moving closer to the bright star Graffias (Beta1 Scorpius) over the past few weeks, and comes closest on the 25th, when it is around half a finger width away.
The addition of Saturn to the head of the Scorpion changes it quite a bit.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, there is only a narrow window for telescope observation from around 8:30 until around 9:30 pm as it gets too close to the horizon. This is still a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail, they will remain reasonably visible until midnight.
Comet C/2013 US10 is now just above the horizon, and this will the last week it is visible from the Southern Hemisphere before it comes too close to the sun and enters the northern hemipshere. The window for observation is quite short and it has failed to brighten as we hoped. A black and white spotters map is here.
Jupiter rises higher in the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing into darker skies it may still require a reasonably unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus is easy to see in the morning twilight. It is a distinct "half Moon" shape and impressive in a small telescope.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the bright stars Regulus and Procyon form a line in the sky. Over the week Venus comes closer to the pair of Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter and Venus will be closest on the 26th. They will be around a finger width apart, and will just fit in a low power telescope eyepiece.
Venus then moves to a meeting with Mars on the 31st.
The Orionids are a worthwhile shower that somewhat favours the Southern Hemisphere,best seen between 2-5 am, the radiant, the point where meteors appear to originate from, being just under Betelgueuse, the bright red star in Orion.
If you draw an imaginary line between Procyon and Aldebaran, then drop another imaginary line from Betelgeuse to the horizon, the radiant is just next to the intersection of those two lines. You can see more deatils and viewing tips here.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Saturn in the sky. 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, October 19, 2015
Orionid Meteor Shower, Morning 22-23 October 2015
The Orionids are a worthwhile shower that somewhat favours the Southern Hemisphere,best seen between 2-5 am, the radiant, the point where meteors appear to originate from, being just under Betelgueuse, the bright red star in Orion.
If you draw an imaginary line between Procyon and Aldebaran, then drop another imaginary line from Betelgeuse to the horizon, the radiant is just next to the intersection of those two lines.
The Orionids are the debris from Halley's comet. The Orionids maximum is on October 21 UT (October 22 Australian time).
This year the sky is nicely dark for the shower.
Despite the maximum being on the 22nd Australian time, the best viewing is the morning of the 23rd, when between 3-5 am under dark skies you should see about a meteor every 3-5 minutes.
You can find out the predicted rates for your location using the NASA meteor flux estimator (use 8 Orionids and make sure you set the dates to 22-23 October 2015).
If you decide to get up, allow at least 5 minutes for your eyes to adjust, and be patient, it may be several minutes before you are rewarded with you first meteor, then a couple will come along in quick succession.
Choose a viewing spot where you can see a large swathe of sky without trees or buildings getting in the way, or with street-lights getting in your eyes. The darker the spot the better (but do be sensible, don't choose a spot in an unsalubrious park for example). Look to the north-east, and the distinctive red star Betelgeuse below the saucepan will be easy to spot. The meteors should originate just below here. However, let your eyes roam a bit to pick up meteors that begin their "burn" a fair distance from the radiant.
A lawn chair or something similar will make your observing comfortable (or a picnic rug spread on the ground and a nice pillow), and having a Thermos of hot coffee, tea or chocolate to swig while watching will increase your comfort. (Here's some hints on dark adaption of your eyes so you can see meteors better).
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: Meteors, Observational Astronomy, unaided eye
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Aurora Alert- Geomagnetic storm and Aurora reports NOW! (18 October 9:30 pm)
The Australian IPS has issued a geomagnetic alert for a G1 class storm NOW and
the NOAA site has a G1 storm happening as well. Currently Velocity: 409 km/sec Bz: -7.0 nT Density = 12.0 p/cc. K index is currently 5 overall and 6 in the Launceston magnetometer. These
conditions are promising. Unaided eye aurora have been reported from Launceston, Mt Wellington and Doges Ferry. In camera aurora have been reported from Tasmania
(Eagle Hawk Neck and other sites) and South Australia. Unaided eye conditions may persist if the geomagnetic conditions hold.Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.
As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
The all sky aurora camera in Northern Tasmania at Cressy may be helpful.
<http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/2>
SUBJ: IPS GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE ALERT ISSUED AT 1040 UT ON 18 OCT 2015 BY IPS RADIO AND SPACE SERVICES FROM THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE
MINOR (G1 - MINOR) GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE IN PROGRESS (K OF 5 REACHED)
PRELIMINARY AUSTRALIAN REGION K INDICES FOR 18 10 15: 2335 -
---
FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF THIS EVENT ON THE IPS SPACE WEATHER STATUS PANEL, HTTP://WWW.IPS.GOV.AU > SPACE WEATHER
Further monitoring at
http://www.ips.gov.au
Labels: aurora
Celestia files for Near Earth Asteroid 2015 TB145
 |  |
| Near Earth Asteroid 2015 TB145 at closest approach to Earth as visualised in Celestia. Click to embiggen. | Orbits of Earth, Moon and Near Earth Asteroid 2015 TB145 at closest approach to Earth as visualised in Celestia. Click to embiggen. |
Asteroid 2015 TB145 will come within 1.3 Earth Moon distances of Earth on October 31. Despite being somewhere between 280–620 meters in diameter, it will be visible in small amateur instruments at closest approach, although North America will have the best view. The asteroid is a target for mapping with radar.
For those of us not in North America (or who just want to play around with the asteroid orbit, or who want to argue with people who claim this asteroid will hit us (it won't)) I've made Celestia files for 2015 TB145. As usual, copy the data here to a plain text file (2015TB145.ssc) and copy the file to the Celestia extras folder.
========= 8< cut =============2015TB145.ssc======= 8< cut =====================
"2015 TB145" "Sol"
#Data from MPC http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPEph/MPEph.html
#Epoch 2016 Jan. 13.0 TT = JDT 2457400.5 MPC
#M 10.48189 (2000.0) P Q
#n 0.32423068 Peri. 121.69708 -0.81665165 -0.42486171 T = 2457368.17150 JDT
#a 2.0984565 Node 37.76023 -0.03578994 -0.63822119 q = 0.2938239
#e 0.8599809 Incl. 39.63322 +0.57602011 -0.64200175 Earth MOID = 0.00157 AU
#P 3.04 H 19.8 G 0.15 U 8
#From 62 observations 2015 Oct. 10-15, mean residual 0".36.
{
Class "asteroid"
Mesh "ky26.cmod"
Texture "asteroid.jpg"
Radius 0.15 # maximum semi-axis
MeshCenter [ -0.000718 -0.000099 0.000556 ]
EllipticalOrbit
{
Epoch 2457400.5 # Epoch 2016 Jan. 13.0 TT = JDT 2457400.5
Period 3.04 # P
SemiMajorAxis 2.0984565 # a
Eccentricity 0.8599809 # e
Inclination 39.63322 # Incl.
AscendingNode 37.76023 # Node
ArgOfPericenter 121.69708 # Peri
PericenterDistance 0.2938239 # q
MeanAnomaly 10.48189 # M
}
RotationPeriod 0.9 #Guess
Albedo 0.15 #Based on typical Stony asteroids, rotation periods vary from one hour to one day
}
================================8< cut 8<=====================================
Labels: asteroids, celestia, NEO
My Mars-Jupiter Conjunction (Morning, Sunday 18 October)
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| The conjunction of Mars and Jupiter at 5:35 am (below Venus, the brightest object in the scene). Canon IXUS 400 ASA, 5 seconds exposure. Click to embiggen | The conjunction of Mars and Jupiter zoomed in. Mars is the dimmer dot, Jupiter the brighter dot, Venus the brightest and you can just see Regulus top left. Canon IXUS 400 ASA, 5 seconds exposure 3x Zoom. Click to embiggen |
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| Mars (top) and Jupiter (bottom with Moons) through my telescope at 6:03 am, 114mm Newtonian with 20 mm Plossl lens. Canon IXUS 400 ASA, 0.7 seconds exposure 3x Zoom. Click to embiggen (Europa is visible on the embiggened version). | Simulation of the same scene at 6:03 am in Stellarium. The inset shows Jupiter's Moons labelled |
After a horrible night where I basically woke up every hour on the hour, disturbing my Beloved Life Partner who had to get up early for work (on a Sunday), I was actually awake for the conjunction of Mars and Jupiter.
Initially I had to go a bit of a hike to see the pair clear of the local roof tops. They looked great in a clear morning sky, with the line of Procyon, Regulus, Venus and the tight pairing of Mars and Jupiter glittering in the slowly paling sky.
I then got my scope out when Mars and Jupiter cleared the roof of the Cabana. They were easily seen together in my 114mm Newtonian with my 20 mm Plossl lens, Jupiter's moons were clear as a bell (even Europa, hard up against Jupiter).
The pair also fitted in the 10 mm Plossl, but right at the edge of the field, and the atmospheric distortion made seeing detail on Jupiter hard. Went back to the 20 mm lens to do some infinity to infinity imaging with the Canon IXUS, from the back ot the camera it didn't look like I caught the moons, but it turned out I did.
All in all a satisfactory morning. Next up Jupiter and Venus on the 25th.
Labels: astrophotography, Conjunction, Jupiter, Mars, telescope, unaided eye
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Mars Meets Jupiter (Morning, Sunday 18 October)
If you have been up at Dark O'Clock in the morning you may have noticed Mars and Jupiter draw closer together during the week, with Venus coming towards the pair.
Mars and Jupiter's journey cumulates tomorrow morning on Sunday the 18th when the pair are at their closest. Techically they are at their cosest at 22:13 UT, but that is after Sunrise. At Astronomical twilight they are less than a fingerwidth apart (37 arc minutes away) and will both fit in a low power telescope eyepiece.
This will be rather nice to observe, but they are still just over a hand-span from the horizon at nautical twilight, an hour before sunrise. You may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see them.
After this Jupiter heads towards Venus, leaving Mars behind. Jupiter and Venus are closest on October 25.
Labels: Conjunction, Jupiter, Mars, unaided eye
Friday, October 16, 2015
Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning (16 October)
The
Australian IPS has issued a Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning and the NOAA site
has a predicted G1 storm from a fast moving solar wind stream from a
coronal hole. Like the previous coronal hole warning there is not much
likelihood of an aurora, but with dark skies it is worth keeping an eye out. The
arrival of the solar wind stream will be anywhere between the evening of the
16th to the morning of the 17th Australian time.
Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds http://satview.bom.gov.au/
As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.
The all sky aurora camera in Northern Tasmania at Cressy may be helpful.
<http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/2>
SUBJ: IPS GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING 15/48
ISSUED AT 2345UT/15 OCTOBER 2015
BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE.
The continued strengthening of solar wind stream due to coronal
hole effect may lead to isolated periods of minor geomagnetic
storm on 16 October.
INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED
DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH SPEED WIND STREAM
FOR 16 OCTOBER 2015
_____________________________________________________________
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST
16 Oct: Quiet to Active, isolated minor storm periods possible
Further monitoring at
http://www.ips.gov.au
Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds http://satview.bom.gov.au/
As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.
The all sky aurora camera in Northern Tasmania at Cressy may be helpful.
<http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/2>
SUBJ: IPS GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING 15/48
ISSUED AT 2345UT/15 OCTOBER 2015
BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE.
The continued strengthening of solar wind stream due to coronal
hole effect may lead to isolated periods of minor geomagnetic
storm on 16 October.
INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED
DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH SPEED WIND STREAM
FOR 16 OCTOBER 2015
_____________________________________________________________
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST
16 Oct: Quiet to Active, isolated minor storm periods possible
Further monitoring at
http://www.ips.gov.au
Labels: aurora
Watching NEO 2015 TB145 from Australia (31 October, 2015)
 |  |
| NEO 2015 TB145 at midnight on 31 October 2015, it is just above the shield of Orion. Click to embiggen. | NEO 2015 TB145 at astronomical twilight on 31 October 2015, it has moved towards the bottom of the shield of Orion. Click to embiggen. |
Near Earth Asteroid 2015 TB145 with an estimated diameter of around 460 m will come relatively close to Earth on 16:18 UT, 31 October (3:18 am 1 Nov AEDST) at distance of 0.003 AU (around 1.3 Earth-Moon distances, ie it is further away from us than the Moon, so there is no chance it will hit us). It is brightest at 12:30 UT on the 31st though (11:30 pm 31 Oct AEDST).
At this time the asteroid will be a reasonably bright magnitude 10.1, easily visible in small telescopes and strong astronomical binoculars. Unfortunately from Australia we will be unable to see it as it is in the northern hemisphere.
The asteroid is near Orion's Shield. Tick marks are an hour apart. Click to embiggen and print. Use the charts up above to orient yourself first.
NEO 2015 TB145 moves from Taurus to Orion, then back into Taurus (crossing the horns of the Bull), into Auriga (where it is brightest) then on to Lynx and beyond.
Australia's best view is on the morning of the 31st, when the asteroid brightens from magnitude 13 to magnitude 12.5. It will be visible in amateur telescopes (as a faint dot), however, the still bright waning Moon 17 degrees away will make it a bit tricky to spot. Its movement should be obvious over several minutes in a medium power telescope eyepiece.
The circle is the field of view of a 20 mm eyepiece with a Newtonian reflector scope. Tick marks are 30 minutes apart. Click to embiggen and print. Use the binocular charts up above to orient yourself first
The asteroid is currently magnitude 19.5, and will not really be accessible to modest amateur equipment until the 30th. You can get an accurate ephemeris for your location from the Minor Planet Ephemeris Centre or JPL horizons. It is best to wait a few more days to generate an ephemeris as better position data is gathered.
Labels: alert, asteroids, NEO, telescope
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
The Sky This Week - Thursday October 15 to Thursday October 22
The First Quarter Moon is Wednesday October 21. Saturn is near
the
head of the Scorpion and is visited by the crescent Moon. Comet
C/2013 US10 may be visible in binoculars. The mornings of this
week have more planetary action. Mars and Jupiter are at their closest on the 18th, Venus comes closer to the pair over the week.
The First Quarter Moon is Wednesday October 21.
Evening sky on Friday October 18 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 21:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible above the western
horizon near the
head of the Scorpion . The thin crescent Moon is just below it. Comet C/2013 US10
is visible in telescopes (and possibly binoculars). Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive back to front "question mark" constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed. Saturn is moving closer to the Scorpion's head and the star Acrab over the next few weeks.
On the 16th the thin crescent Moon is below Saturn.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 8:00 until around 10 pm. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is nearly midway and down from the Pointers and the head of the Scorpion. It is coming closer to the horizon, so the window for observation is quite short. It is brightening very slowly, and looks to be around a magnitude dimmer than predicted (hovering somewhere around magnitude 7). It should be reasonably easy to see in good binoculars. A black and white spotters map is here.
Early morning sky on Sunday October18 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:30 ACDST showing Venus, Mars and Jupiter. Mars and Jupoiter are at their closest. Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia. (click
to embiggen).
Jupiter rises higher in the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing into darker skies it may still require a reasonably unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
During the week Mars and Jupiter draw closer together, with Venus coming towards the pair. On the 18th Mars and Jupiter are at their closest. After this Jupiter heads towards Venus, leaving Mars behind.
Venus is easy to see in the morning twilight. It is a distinct "half Moon" shape and impressive in a small telescope. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the bright stars Regulus and Procyon form a line in the sky. Over the week Venus comes closer to the pair of Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter and Venus will be closest on the 26th.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Saturn in the sky. 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 Wednesday October 21.
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive back to front "question mark" constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed. Saturn is moving closer to the Scorpion's head and the star Acrab over the next few weeks.
On the 16th the thin crescent Moon is below Saturn.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 8:00 until around 10 pm. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is nearly midway and down from the Pointers and the head of the Scorpion. It is coming closer to the horizon, so the window for observation is quite short. It is brightening very slowly, and looks to be around a magnitude dimmer than predicted (hovering somewhere around magnitude 7). It should be reasonably easy to see in good binoculars. A black and white spotters map is here.
Jupiter rises higher in the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing into darker skies it may still require a reasonably unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
During the week Mars and Jupiter draw closer together, with Venus coming towards the pair. On the 18th Mars and Jupiter are at their closest. After this Jupiter heads towards Venus, leaving Mars behind.
Venus is easy to see in the morning twilight. It is a distinct "half Moon" shape and impressive in a small telescope. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the bright stars Regulus and Procyon form a line in the sky. Over the week Venus comes closer to the pair of Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter and Venus will be closest on the 26th.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Saturn in the sky. 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, October 12, 2015
Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning (13 October)
The geomagnetic storms of the 9th were nowhere near as effective as the 7th and
8th, but a few faint aurora were seen by dedicated observers
The Australian IPS has issued a Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning and the NOAA site has a predicted G1 storm from a fast moving solar wind stream from a coronal hole. Unlike the previous coronal holes this is from the suns northern hemisphere and will most likely just graze us, with much less likelihood of an aurora. The arrival of the solar wind stream will be anywhere between the early morning of the 13th Australian time, to the evening of the 13th.
Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.
As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.
The all sky aurora camera in Northern Tasmania at Cressy may be helpful.
<http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/2>
SUBJ: IPS GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING 15/46
ISSUED AT 2320UT/11 OCTOBER 2015
BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE.
Due to the angle of the leading edge of the coronal hole it is
uncertain when it will be geoeffective, most likely late in the
UT day, 12 October, or tomorrow, 13 October.
INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED
DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH SPEED WIND STREAM
FROM 12-13 OCTOBER 2015
_____________________________________________________________
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST
12 Oct: Unsettled to Active
13 Oct: Active
Further monitoring at
http://www.ips.gov.au
The Australian IPS has issued a Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning and the NOAA site has a predicted G1 storm from a fast moving solar wind stream from a coronal hole. Unlike the previous coronal holes this is from the suns northern hemisphere and will most likely just graze us, with much less likelihood of an aurora. The arrival of the solar wind stream will be anywhere between the early morning of the 13th Australian time, to the evening of the 13th.
Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.
As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.
The all sky aurora camera in Northern Tasmania at Cressy may be helpful.
<http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/2>
SUBJ: IPS GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING 15/46
ISSUED AT 2320UT/11 OCTOBER 2015
BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE.
Due to the angle of the leading edge of the coronal hole it is
uncertain when it will be geoeffective, most likely late in the
UT day, 12 October, or tomorrow, 13 October.
INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED
DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH SPEED WIND STREAM
FROM 12-13 OCTOBER 2015
_____________________________________________________________
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST
12 Oct: Unsettled to Active
13 Oct: Active
Further monitoring at
http://www.ips.gov.au
Labels: aurora
Friday, October 09, 2015
A Morning of Bright Planets and the Moon (10 October 2015)
While the excitement of the Occultation of Venus is over, in the coming days we have more planetray action. Unfortunately it is al in the morning. Starting tomorrow morning with the crescent Moon forming a triangle with Mars and Jupiter, with Venus above very close to the bright star Regulus.
Mars and Jupiter are relatively close to the horizon, and are only a hand-span above the horizon an hour before sunrise (nautical twilight). You may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see them.
During the rest of the week Mars and Jupiter come closer together, a prelude to their closest approach on the 18th.
Labels: Conjunction, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, unaided eye, Venus
My Occultation of Venus (9 October, 2015)
 |  |
 |  |
I was so excited by the occultation of Venus that despite setting my alarm for dark o'clock I just couldn't sleep. Popping out from 4 am to check the sky it was clear, and beautiful, perfect for the occultation. Ingress occurred when the Moon was just rising above the horizon, it too a lot of wandering about to find a spot where I could see the Moon (so I missed the ISS flyby), but of course, in all that vas exapnse of clear sky there was but one tiny cloud, and where do you think it was?
Yep, right in front of the Moon where Venus was, I could see the horns of the crescent on either side of the cloud, but where Venus was was completely blocked out.
Setting up for the exit of Venus was less complicated. I had agonised over whether to use the CCD setup, or the DSLR on Don the 8" Newtonian, or go for portability with the little 4" Newtonian and the Canon IXUS through the lens. I went with portability and the 4"/IXUS combination.
I was able to set up in my backyard with clear views of the Moon. Got everything set up, Moon in focus, camera aligned. Ran a test shot.
Then the battery ran out!
I rapidly ran inside, grabbed the spare battery disassembled the camera and then reassembled (of course the battery compartment is not accessible when the camera is on the scope) set up the camera AGAIN and was JUST in time to see Venus emerge from behind the Moon.
The images (click to embiggen) are not that flash, and Venus is greatly over exposed, because with the IXUS I cannot manually set it below 1 second exposure, so there is a bit of image trailing (ASA 400). Still I got to see the whole egress, and I looked up from the camera to see Venus exiting from behind the Moon with my unaided eye, which looked awesome as well. I expected it to just "pop" out, but the bright speck grew relatively slowly over a second or so.
So, despite misadventures, a really fantastic experience.
Labels: astrophotography, Daylight, Daytime, Moon, Occultation, unaided eye, Venus
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