Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Southern Skywatch September 2018 edition is now out!
The August edition of Southern Skywatch is now up.
This month still has only 4 of the bright planets in the evening sky as Mercury remains in the morning sky until late in the month. There are planets brighter than magnitude -2 at the beginning of the month, but by the end of the month Mars and Jupiter have dropped below magnitude -2, while Venus achieves peak brilliance. Venus , Jupiter and Mars are prominent in the evening sky and Saturn rises higher in the evening sky. Mars is past Opposition but still very bright.
Mercury is lost in the twilight and returns to the evening sky late in the month.
Venus is closest to the bright star Spica on the 1st, and is at its brighest on the 23rd.
Jupiter is close to alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi) at the beginning of the month,but draws away over the month . Jupiter is close to the Moon on the 14th.
Mars was at opposition on July the 27th, this is the best opposition since 2003. It is still a very good telescopic target. More details at my Mars opposition site. September 20, Moon and Mars close.
Saturn is within a binocular field of the the Trifid Nebula and Lagoon Nebula this month. September 17 Moon close to Saturn.
September 12-13, crescent Moon near Venus.
September 14; Moon close to Jupiter. September 17 Moon close to Saturn. September 20, Moon and Mars close.
September 8, Moon at Perigee; September 20, Moon at Apogee.
Labels: southern skywatch
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 30 to Thursday September 6
The Last Quarter Moon is Monday, September 3. 4 bright unaided eye planets can be seen in the evening sky. Venus is high in the early evening sky and is at its closest to the bright star Spica.
Jupiter is past opposition, but is still big and bright in telescopes. Saturn and Mars are visible in the evening skies. Mars is past opposition but is still bright and big in even small telescopes.
The Last Quarter Moon is Monday, September 3.
Evening twilight sky on Saturday September 1 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:21 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Venus is high above the horizon
and is at its closest to Spica. Jupiter is now high in the western sky as
well.
The insets shows simulated telescopic views of Venus as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece and Jupiter on Wednesday the 5th as Io, Ganymede and Io's shadow pass over Jupiter's face at 21:54 ACST (Jupiter will be quite low by then).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Brilliant Venus is visible high in the evening until well after full dark. Venus is visible to the unaided eye from before sunset, easy to see shortly after sunset and can viewed well after 90 minutes after sunset. During the week Venus is at its closest to the bright star Spica .
Whole sky view of the evening sky on Saturday September 1 as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:21ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Four bright
planets are visible in the evening sky.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (just after 90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Evening
sky on Saturday September 1 looking north as seen from Adelaide
at 19:21 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Saturn and Mars are
clearly visible. The
insets are simulated telescopic views of Saturn and Mars as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Binocular view of Saturn on Saturday September 1 looking east as seen from Adelaide
at 19:21 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Saturn is in the same binocular field as the Triffid and Lagoon Nebulae.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Venus is readily visible above the horizon in the early evening. It is bright enough to be visible from just on sunset and to well past 90 minutes after sunset at full dark, when it is two and a half hand-spans above the horizon. Venus is at its closest to the bright star Spica on Saturday the 1st of September.
Mercury is deep in the twilight in the morning skies and very difficult to see.
Jupiter is high in the early evening sky above the western horizon. It was at Opposition on the May 9th, and is still visible most of the night. It is a good telescopic object in the early evening and is setting around 11:30 pm local time. There are some good Jovian Moon events this week, although they will be close to the horizon. This week Jupiter continues to move away from the bright star alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi).
Mars is in Capricornius and is readily seen in the evening. Mars was at opposition last month on July 27th, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. This was the best opposition since 2003. However Mars will remain bright and large in even small telescopes for some time. In a telescope you may see a few features as the huge dust storm sweeping the planet continues to subside. A guide to observing Mars at the time is at my Mars Opposition page.
Saturn is now high in the northern evening sky in the early evening, and is a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening sky. It was at opposition, when Saturn is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on June the 27th. It is within binocular range of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae. ow that the Mon has eft the evening sky this will be an excellent sight in binoculars.
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 Monday, September 3.
The insets shows simulated telescopic views of Venus as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece and Jupiter on Wednesday the 5th as Io, Ganymede and Io's shadow pass over Jupiter's face at 21:54 ACST (Jupiter will be quite low by then).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Brilliant Venus is visible high in the evening until well after full dark. Venus is visible to the unaided eye from before sunset, easy to see shortly after sunset and can viewed well after 90 minutes after sunset. During the week Venus is at its closest to the bright star Spica .
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (just after 90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Venus is readily visible above the horizon in the early evening. It is bright enough to be visible from just on sunset and to well past 90 minutes after sunset at full dark, when it is two and a half hand-spans above the horizon. Venus is at its closest to the bright star Spica on Saturday the 1st of September.
Mercury is deep in the twilight in the morning skies and very difficult to see.
Jupiter is high in the early evening sky above the western horizon. It was at Opposition on the May 9th, and is still visible most of the night. It is a good telescopic object in the early evening and is setting around 11:30 pm local time. There are some good Jovian Moon events this week, although they will be close to the horizon. This week Jupiter continues to move away from the bright star alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi).
Mars is in Capricornius and is readily seen in the evening. Mars was at opposition last month on July 27th, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. This was the best opposition since 2003. However Mars will remain bright and large in even small telescopes for some time. In a telescope you may see a few features as the huge dust storm sweeping the planet continues to subside. A guide to observing Mars at the time is at my Mars Opposition page.
Saturn is now high in the northern evening sky in the early evening, and is a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening sky. It was at opposition, when Saturn is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on June the 27th. It is within binocular range of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae. ow that the Mon has eft the evening sky this will be an excellent sight in binoculars.
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
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
The ISS pass of Wedensday 22 August (2018)
 |  |
| International Space Station pass near Arcturus tonight, Wednesday 22 August at 19:24 ACST. This was a short pass, with the ISS disappearing into earth's shadow (not in the sequence, the image sequence finished before the ISS actually disappeared). 12 images fro my CANON IXUS, ASA 400 3 seconds exposure, stacked in DeepSky Stacker. click to embiggen | Animation of all 12 frames in stacked in ImageJ. Click to embiggen. |
I managed to get the first in the series of bright ISS passes tonight, a lovely one that faded into Earth's shadow nicely. Sadly I will miss the next two, including the close Venus pass, as I am taking Middle One to Occupational Therapy and a Chess Tournament respectively. Enjoy them for me folks.
Labels: astrophotography, ISS, Satellite
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 23 to Thursday August 30
The Full Moon is Sunday, August 26. 4 bright unaided
eye
planets
can be seen in the evening sky. Venus is high in the
early evening sky coming close to the bright star Spica.
Jupiter is past
opposition, but is still big and bright in telescopes. Saturn
and Mars are visible in
the evening
skies. Mars is visited by the waxing Moon on the 23rd. Mars is just past opposition but is still bright and big
in even
small telescopes. There is a series of bright International Space Station passes this week.
The Full Moon is Sunday, August 26.
The ISS passes below Venus as
seen from Adelaide on the evening of Friday 24 August at 19:18 ACST.
Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.
This week will see the International Space Sation return to the evening skies, with som e cole passes to the bright planet Venus between the 24th to 26th, as well as close passes to Mars and bright stars. This is very location dependent, so see my ISS pass page for details.
Evening twilight sky on Saturday August 25 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:16 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Venus is high above the horizon and coming closer to Spica. Jupiter is now high in the western sky as well.
The insets shows simulated telescopic views of Venus as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece and Jupiter on Wednesday the 29th as Ion, Ganymede and their shadows pass over Jupiter's face at 19:16 ACST .
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Brilliant Venus is visible high in the evening until well after full dark. Venus is visible to the unaided eye from before sunset, easy to see shortly after sunset and can viewed well after 90 minutes after sunset. During the week Venus moves further towards the bright star Spica and is passed by the ISS during the week.
Whole sky view of the evening sky on Saturday August 25 as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:16 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Four bright
planets and the nearly full Moon are visible in the evening sky.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (just after 90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Evening
sky on Saturday August 25 looking east as seen from Adelaide
at 19:16 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Saturn and Mars are
clearly visible with the waxing Moon below Mars. The
insets are simulated telescopic views of Saturn and Mars as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Venus is readily visible above the horizon in the early evening. It is bright enough to be visible from just on sunset and to well past 90 minutes after sunset at full dark, when it is two and a half hand-spans above the horizon. During the week Venus moves closer to the bright star Spica and is passed by the ISS during the week.
Mercury is deep in the twilight in the morning skies and very difficult to see.
Jupiter is high in the early evening sky above the north-western horizon. It was at Opposition on the May 9th, and is still visible most of the night. It is a good telescopic object in the early to mid-evening and is setting just before midnight local time. There are some good Jovian Moon events this week. This week Jupiter moving away from the bright star alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi).
Mars is in Capricornius and is readily seen in the evening. Mars was at opposition last month on July 27th, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. This was the best opposition since 2003. However Mars will remain bright and large in even small telescopes for some time. In a telescope you may see a few features as the huge dust storm sweeping the planet continues to subside. A guide to observing Mars at the time is at my Mars Opposition page. The Moon is close to Mars on the 23rd.
Saturn is now high in the northern evening sky in the early evening, and isa good telescopic object in the mid to late evening sky. It was at opposition, when Saturn is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on June the 27th. It is within binocular range of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae. However the increasing Moon light makes seen these nebula more difficult.
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 Full Moon is Sunday, August 26.
This week will see the International Space Sation return to the evening skies, with som e cole passes to the bright planet Venus between the 24th to 26th, as well as close passes to Mars and bright stars. This is very location dependent, so see my ISS pass page for details.
The insets shows simulated telescopic views of Venus as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece and Jupiter on Wednesday the 29th as Ion, Ganymede and their shadows pass over Jupiter's face at 19:16 ACST .
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Brilliant Venus is visible high in the evening until well after full dark. Venus is visible to the unaided eye from before sunset, easy to see shortly after sunset and can viewed well after 90 minutes after sunset. During the week Venus moves further towards the bright star Spica and is passed by the ISS during the week.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (just after 90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Venus is readily visible above the horizon in the early evening. It is bright enough to be visible from just on sunset and to well past 90 minutes after sunset at full dark, when it is two and a half hand-spans above the horizon. During the week Venus moves closer to the bright star Spica and is passed by the ISS during the week.
Mercury is deep in the twilight in the morning skies and very difficult to see.
Jupiter is high in the early evening sky above the north-western horizon. It was at Opposition on the May 9th, and is still visible most of the night. It is a good telescopic object in the early to mid-evening and is setting just before midnight local time. There are some good Jovian Moon events this week. This week Jupiter moving away from the bright star alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi).
Mars is in Capricornius and is readily seen in the evening. Mars was at opposition last month on July 27th, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. This was the best opposition since 2003. However Mars will remain bright and large in even small telescopes for some time. In a telescope you may see a few features as the huge dust storm sweeping the planet continues to subside. A guide to observing Mars at the time is at my Mars Opposition page. The Moon is close to Mars on the 23rd.
Saturn is now high in the northern evening sky in the early evening, and isa good telescopic object in the mid to late evening sky. It was at opposition, when Saturn is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on June the 27th. It is within binocular range of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae. However the increasing Moon light makes seen these nebula more difficult.
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
Catch the ISS passing close to Venus and many others (24-26 August, 2018)
 |  |  |
| The ISS passes below Venus as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Friday 24 August at 19:49 AEST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. | The ISS passes below Venus as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Friday 24 August at 19:18 ACST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. | The ISS passes below Venus as seen from Perth on the evening of Saturday 25 August at 18:29 AWST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot) click to embiggen. |
 |  |  |
| All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Friday 24 August for Melbourne. | All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Friday 24 August for Adelaide. | All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 25 August for Perth. |
Over the next few days there are a series of very bright ISS pass. Many will pass close to bright planets or shoot between the pointers and the Southern cross. However, there are particularly close passes to Venus on the 24th (Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne), 25th (Perth) and 26th (Sydney, Hobart). On other days there are close passes to Mars.
The following tables are from data provided from Heavens Above.
Passes from Adelaide
| Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | Pass type | ||||||
| (mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
|
Passes from Brisbane
| 22 Aug | -3.6 | 18:18:53 | 10° | NNW | 18:22:06 | 53° | NE | 18:24:11 | 20° | ESE | visible |
| 23 Aug | -1.5 | 19:04:04 | 10° | W | 19:06:40 | 21° | SW | 19:07:45 | 18° | SSW | visible |
| 24 Aug | -2.7 | 18:11:25 | 10° | WNW | 18:14:36 | 42° | SW | 18:17:48 | 10° | SSE | visible |
| 26 Aug | -1.1 | 18:05:01 | 10° | W | 18:07:12 | 16° | SW | 18:09:24 | 10° | S | visible |
Passes from Darwin
| 22 Aug | -2.6 | 06:05:20 | 23° | W | 06:06:08 | 25° | NW | 06:08:54 | 10° | N | visible |
| 22 Aug | -1.3 | 19:19:19 | 10° | W | 19:21:50 | 20° | SW | 19:24:24 | 10° | S | visible |
| 23 Aug | -1.5 | 05:16:25 | 19° | NNE | 05:16:25 | 19° | NNE | 05:17:30 | 10° | NNE | visible |
Passes from Melbourne
| 22 Aug | -1.4 | 19:55:47 | 10° | NW | 19:56:53 | 19° | NW | 19:56:53 | 19° | NW | visible |
| 23 Aug | -3.2 | 19:04:03 | 10° | NNW | 19:07:11 | 39° | NE | 19:07:42 | 36° | ENE | visible |
| 24 Aug | -2.1 | 18:12:50 | 10° | N | 18:15:19 | 20° | NE | 18:17:50 | 10° | E | visible |
| 24 Aug | -2.3 | 19:48:27 | 10° | WNW | 19:51:06 | 36° | WSW | 19:51:06 | 36° | WSW | visible |
| 25 Aug | -3.7 | 18:56:13 | 10° | NW | 18:59:32 | 76° | SW | 19:01:40 | 21° | SE | visible |
| 26 Aug | -1.6 | 19:41:38 | 10° | WSW | 19:44:15 | 20° | SSW | 19:44:48 | 20° | SSW | visible |
| 27 Aug | -2.2 | 18:48:58 | 10° | W | 18:52:01 | 32° | SSW | 18:55:05 | 10° | SSE | visible |
| 28 Aug | -1.1 | 19:35:19 | 10° | SW | 19:36:57 | 13° | SSW | 19:38:04 | 11° | S | visible |
| 29 Aug | -1.3 | 18:42:13 | 10° | WSW | 18:44:36 | 18° | SSW | 18:46:59 | 10° | SSE | visible |
| 31 Aug | -1.0 | 18:36:01 | 10° | SW | 18:37:16 | 12° | SSW | 18:38:32 | 10° | S | visible |
Passes from Perth
| 21 Aug | -1.9 | 18:43:32 | 10° | NNE | 18:45:32 | 15° | NE | 18:45:58 | 15° | ENE | visible |
| 21 Aug | -0.3 | 20:18:40 | 10° | WNW | 20:18:42 | 10° | WNW | 20:18:42 | 10° | WNW | visible |
| 22 Aug | -3.7 | 19:26:26 | 10° | NW | 19:29:37 | 76° | WSW | 19:29:37 | 76° | WSW | visible |
| 23 Aug | -3.3 | 18:34:37 | 10° | NNW | 18:37:48 | 44° | NE | 18:40:26 | 14° | ESE | visible |
| 23 Aug | -0.6 | 20:12:19 | 10° | WSW | 20:13:08 | 13° | WSW | 20:13:08 | 13° | WSW | visible |
| 24 Aug | -1.9 | 19:19:22 | 10° | W | 19:22:16 | 27° | SW | 19:23:49 | 19° | S | visible |
| 25 Aug | -3.2 | 18:26:55 | 10° | WNW | 18:30:11 | 56° | SW | 18:33:30 | 10° | SE | visible |
| 26 Aug | -1.0 | 19:13:16 | 10° | WSW | 19:14:57 | 13° | SSW | 19:16:37 | 10° | S | visible |
| 27 Aug | -1.5 | 18:20:00 | 10° | W | 18:22:41 | 22° | SW | 18:25:23 | 10° | SSE | visible |
Passes from Sydney
| 22 Aug | -2.3 | 18:20:36 | 10° | N | 18:23:10 | 21° | NE | 18:24:11 | 18° | ENE | visible |
| 22 Aug | -0.4 | 19:56:33 | 10° | W | 19:56:54 | 12° | W | 19:56:54 | 12° | W | visible |
| 23 Aug | -3.4 | 19:04:12 | 10° | WNW | 19:07:29 | 59° | SW | 19:07:45 | 56° | SSW | visible |
| 24 Aug | -3.7 | 18:12:14 | 10° | NW | 18:15:31 | 62° | NE | 18:18:28 | 13° | SE | visible |
| 24 Aug | -0.6 | 19:50:20 | 10° | WSW | 19:51:11 | 13° | SW | 19:51:11 | 13° | SW | visible |
| 25 Aug | -1.7 | 18:57:19 | 10° | W | 19:00:06 | 24° | SW | 19:01:46 | 17° | S | visible |
| 26 Aug | -2.7 | 18:04:46 | 10° | WNW | 18:07:58 | 44° | SW | 18:11:13 | 10° | SE | visible |
| 27 Aug | -0.9 | 18:51:21 | 10° | SW | 18:52:50 | 12° | SSW | 18:54:19 | 10° | S | visible |
| 28 Aug | -1.4 | 17:58:03 | 10° | W | 18:00:34 | 19° | SSW | 18:03:06 | 10° | SSE | visible |
Passes from Hobart
| 23 Aug | -2.2 | 19:05:39 | 10° | NNW | 19:07:42 | 23° | NNE | 19:07:42 | 23° | NNE | visible |
| 24 Aug | -1.7 | 18:14:46 | 10° | NNE | 18:16:40 | 14° | NE | 18:18:24 | 11° | E | visible |
| 24 Aug | -1.8 | 19:49:26 | 10° | WNW | 19:51:07 | 27° | WNW | 19:51:07 | 27° | WNW | visible |
| 25 Aug | -3.7 | 18:57:28 | 10° | NW | 19:00:46 | 61° | NE | 19:01:40 | 41° | E | visible |
| 26 Aug | -2.8 | 18:05:47 | 10° | NNW | 18:08:49 | 32° | NE | 18:11:53 | 10° | ESE | visible |
| 26 Aug | -2.3 | 19:42:06 | 10° | W | 19:44:49 | 36° | SW | 19:44:49 | 36° | SW | visible |
| 27 Aug | -3.4 | 18:49:49 | 10° | WNW | 18:53:09 | 61° | SSW | 18:55:09 | 22° | SE | visible |
| 27 Aug | -0.3 | 20:27:30 | 10° | WSW | 20:27:50 | 12° | WSW | 20:27:50 | 12° | WSW | visible |
| 28 Aug | -2.0 | 19:34:59 | 10° | WSW | 19:37:52 | 25° | SSW | 19:38:04 | 25° | S | visible |
| 29 Aug | -2.4 | 18:42:30 | 10° | W | 18:45:37 | 34° | SSW | 18:48:14 | 13° | SE | visible |
| 29 Aug | -0.5 | 20:20:22 | 10° | SW | 20:20:54 | 12° | SW | 20:20:54 | 12° | SW | visible |
| 30 Aug | -1.7 | 19:27:54 | 10° | WSW | 19:30:28 | 20° | S | 19:31:00 | 19° | S | visible |
| 31 Aug | -1.8 | 18:35:21 | 10° | WSW | 18:38:08 | 23° | SSW | 18:40:56 | 10° | SE | visible |
| 31 Aug | -0.8 | 20:12:58 | 10° | SW | 20:13:43 | 14° | SSW | 20:13:43 | 14° | SSW | visible |
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, a small
difference in location can mean the difference between the ISS passing
over Venus or missing it completely.
As always, start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get
yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, there may be
slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to orbit changes
not picked up by the predictions. Use the most recent prediction for
your site.
Labels: ISS, Satellite, unaided eye
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 16 to Thursday August 23
The First Quarter Moon is Saturday, August 18. 4 bright unaided
eye
planets
can be seen in the evening sky. Venus is high in the
early evening sky .
Jupiter is past
opposition, but is still big and bright in telescopes. The Moon visits Jupiter on the 17th. Jupiter is closest to the
bright star alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi) between the 16th and 19th. Saturn
and Mars are visible in
the evening
skies and are visited by the waxing Moon on the 21st ad 23rd respectively. Mars is just past opposition but is still bright and big in even
small telescopes.
The First Quarter Moon is Saturday, August 18. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 23rd.
Evening twilight sky on Saturday August 18 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:12 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Venus is high above the horizon and coming closer to Spica. The inset shows
simulated telescopic
views of Venus as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece
(compare with Jupiter, Saturn and Mars).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Brilliant Venus is visible high in the evening until well after full dark. Venus is visible to the unaided eye from before sunset, easy to see shortly after sunset and can viewed well after 90 minutes after sunset. During the week Venus moves further towards the bright star Spica.
Whole sky view of the evening sky on Saturday August 18 as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:12 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Four bright
planets and the waxing Moon are visible in the evening sky.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (just after 90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Evening
sky on Friday August 17 looking North as seen from Adelaide
at 19:12 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is well above the
horizon, close to the
bright star alpha Librae and close to the waxing Moon.
The inset is a simulated telescopic view of Jupiter and its moons at 19:12 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is shown as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).
Evening
sky on Tuesday August 21 looking east as seen from Adelaide
at 19:14 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Saturn and Mars are
clearly visible with the waxing Moon close to Saturn. The
insets are simulated telescopic views of Saturn and Mars as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Venus is readily visible above the horizon in the early evening. It is bright enough to be visible from just on sunset and to well past 90 minutes after sunset at full dark, when it is two and a half hand-spans above the horizon. During the week Venus moves closer to the bright star Spica.
Mercury is deep in the twilight in the morning skies and very difficult to see.
Jupiter is high in the early evening sky above the northern horizon. It was at Opposition on the May 9th, and is still visible most of the night. It is a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening and is highest around 17:15 local time before the Sun sets. There are some good Jovian Moon events this week. This week Jupiter is coming closer to the bright star alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi).
Mars is in Capricornius and is readily seen in the evening. Mars was at opposition last month on July 27th, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. This was the best opposition since 2003. However Mars will remain bright and large in even small telescopes for some time. In a telescope you may see a few features as the huge dust storm sweeping the planet continues to subside. A guide to observing Mars at the time is at my Mars Opposition page. The Moon is close to Mars on the 23rd.
Saturn is climbing higher the early evening sky, and is now a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening sky. It was at opposition, when Saturn is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on June the 27th. It is within binocular range of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae. However the increasing Moon light makes seen these nebula more difficult, especially on the 21st, when the waxing Moon is close to Saturn.
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 First Quarter Moon is Saturday, August 18. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 23rd.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Brilliant Venus is visible high in the evening until well after full dark. Venus is visible to the unaided eye from before sunset, easy to see shortly after sunset and can viewed well after 90 minutes after sunset. During the week Venus moves further towards the bright star Spica.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (just after 90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
The inset is a simulated telescopic view of Jupiter and its moons at 19:12 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is shown as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Venus is readily visible above the horizon in the early evening. It is bright enough to be visible from just on sunset and to well past 90 minutes after sunset at full dark, when it is two and a half hand-spans above the horizon. During the week Venus moves closer to the bright star Spica.
Mercury is deep in the twilight in the morning skies and very difficult to see.
Jupiter is high in the early evening sky above the northern horizon. It was at Opposition on the May 9th, and is still visible most of the night. It is a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening and is highest around 17:15 local time before the Sun sets. There are some good Jovian Moon events this week. This week Jupiter is coming closer to the bright star alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi).
Mars is in Capricornius and is readily seen in the evening. Mars was at opposition last month on July 27th, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. This was the best opposition since 2003. However Mars will remain bright and large in even small telescopes for some time. In a telescope you may see a few features as the huge dust storm sweeping the planet continues to subside. A guide to observing Mars at the time is at my Mars Opposition page. The Moon is close to Mars on the 23rd.
Saturn is climbing higher the early evening sky, and is now a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening sky. It was at opposition, when Saturn is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on June the 27th. It is within binocular range of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae. However the increasing Moon light makes seen these nebula more difficult, especially on the 21st, when the waxing Moon is close to Saturn.
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, August 13, 2018
Seeing Venus in the daylight, 14-15 August 2018
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| Western horizon as seen from Adelaide on Tuesday 14 August at 5:00 pm, 45 minutes before sunset. Venus is about a hand-span above the crescent Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia 45 min before local sunset (click to embiggen) | Western horizon as seen from Adelaide on Wednesday 15 August at 5:00 pm, 45 minutes before sunset. Venus is about a hand-span below the crescent Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia 45 min before local sunset (click to embiggen) |
As regular readers of this blog know, I'm obsessed with seeing Venus in the daytime.
Venus is currently bright enough to see during the daylight. However, finding a bright dot in the vast amount of blue can be challenging. It is easier to locate Venus if there is a handy foreground object nearby to use as reference. The Moon is such an object, fairly easy to spot making it a handy guide.
On the 14th, and then again on the 15th, the crescent Moon is about a hand-span from Venus, an excellent opportunity for finding Venus in the daylight.
Look for the thin crescent Moon, and Venus should be visible as a bright dot just above it (14th) or below it (15th). The images above should help locate it. It's best to look in the afternoon when the Sun is low and the sky is less bright. Make sure the Sun is hidden behind something solid like a building or a wall when you are looking for Venus, not trees or your hand. Exposing your eyes directly to the glare of the Sun can be very dangerous and you could potentially lose your sight.
You may need to use binoculars at first to pick up Venus near the moon, but once you have spotted it it will be obvious (again make sure you practise sun safety when observing with binoculars).
I used a corner of the house and pergola to shut out the Sun and frame the Moon-Venus combination for previous daylight Venus adventures.
You may also use mobile phone apps such as Google sky map to locate the Moon and Venus in the vasty blue.
If you miss this opportunity, locate Venus around half an hour after Sunset, and find a convenient marker (a tree, a telephone pole or something like that) close by to Venus from a fixed position in your yard. Note the relative position of Venus and features on the marker. Next day, go to your viewing position about 5 minutes after Sunset and again note Venus's location. The next day, look 5 minutes before Sunset and note the location. And so on until you can see Venus well before Sunset.
Do remember to be very careful not to look directly at the Sun when doing all of this. Chose your viewing location so that the Sun will be hidden well behind some solid object at all of your projected viewing times.
Good luck Venus hunting.
Labels: Daylight, Daytime, Moon, unaided eye, Venus
Tuesday, August 07, 2018
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 9 to Thursday August 16
The New Moon is Saturday, August 11. 4 bright unaided
eye
planets
can be seen in the evening sky. Venus is high in the
early evening sky and is close to the crescent Moon on the 14th and 15th.
Jupiter is past
opposition, but is still big and bright in telescopes. Mars and Saturn
are visible in
the evening
skies. Mars is just past opposition but is still bright and big in even small telescopes. Perseid meteor shower visible in northern Australia.
The New Moon is Saturday, August 11. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 11th.
Perseid radiant as seen from Darwin at 5:00 am local time, August the 13th, looking north. Click to embiggen.
The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks on the morning of Thursday August 13. Despite this being a quite reasonable meteor shower in the northern hemisphere, for most of Australia, the radiant is below the horizon, and only the very occasional meteor shooting up from the northern horizon will be seen. Anyone south of Brisbane will see only the occasional meteor, say maybe one or two per hour, the further north of Brisbane you are, the more meteors you will see. A full observing guide is at my Perseid page.
Evening twilight sky on Tuesday August 14 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:09 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Venus is high above the horizon and close to the crescent Moon. The inset shows
simulated telescopic
views of Venus as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece
(compare with Jupiter, Saturn and Mars).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Brilliant Venus is now visible in the evening until well after full dark. Venus is visible to the unaided eye from sunset, easy to see 30-60 minutes after sunset and can viewed well after 90 minutes after sunset. During the week Venus moves towards the bright star Spica. On the 14th and 15th Venus is close to the crescent Moon.
Whole sky view of the evening sky on Tuesday August 14 as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:09 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Four bright
planets and the crescent Moon are visible in the evening sky.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (just after 60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Evening
sky on Saturday August 11 looking North as seen from Adelaide
at 19:07 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is well above the
horizon, close to the
bright star alpha Librae.
The inset is a simulated telescopic view of Jupiter and its moons at 19:07 ACST (90 minutes after sunset) on the 13th, Europa is just finishing a transit. Io will undergo transit shortly after. Then their respective shadow transits will start. Jupiter is shown as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).
Evening
sky on Saturday August 11 looking east as seen from Adelaide
at 19:07 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Saturn and Mars are
clearly visible. The
insets are simulated telescopic views of Saturn and Mars as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Venus is readily visible above the horizon in the early evening. It is bright enough to be visible from just on sunset and to well past 90 minutes after sunset at full dark, when it is two and a half hand-spans above the horizon. During the week Venus moves towards the bright star Spica. On the 14th and 15th Venus is close to the crescent Moon.
Mercury is lost in the twilight and will reappear in the morning skies later in the month.
Jupiter is high in the early evening sky above the northern horizon. It was at Opposition on the May 9th, and is still visible most of the night. It is a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening and is highest around 17:47 local time (just before full dark). There are some good Jovian Moon events this week. This week Jupiter is coming closer to the bright star alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi).
Mars is in Capricornius and is readily seen in the evening. Mars was at opposition last month on July 27th, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. This was the best opposition since 2003. However Mars will remain bright and large in even small telescopes for some time. In a telescope you may see a few features as the huge dust storm sweeping the planet continues to subside. A guide to observing Mars at the time is at my Mars Opposition page.
Saturn is climbing higher the evening sky, and is now a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening sky. It was at opposition, when Saturn is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on June the 27th. It is within binocular range of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae.
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 New Moon is Saturday, August 11. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 11th.
The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks on the morning of Thursday August 13. Despite this being a quite reasonable meteor shower in the northern hemisphere, for most of Australia, the radiant is below the horizon, and only the very occasional meteor shooting up from the northern horizon will be seen. Anyone south of Brisbane will see only the occasional meteor, say maybe one or two per hour, the further north of Brisbane you are, the more meteors you will see. A full observing guide is at my Perseid page.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Brilliant Venus is now visible in the evening until well after full dark. Venus is visible to the unaided eye from sunset, easy to see 30-60 minutes after sunset and can viewed well after 90 minutes after sunset. During the week Venus moves towards the bright star Spica. On the 14th and 15th Venus is close to the crescent Moon.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (just after 60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
The inset is a simulated telescopic view of Jupiter and its moons at 19:07 ACST (90 minutes after sunset) on the 13th, Europa is just finishing a transit. Io will undergo transit shortly after. Then their respective shadow transits will start. Jupiter is shown as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Venus is readily visible above the horizon in the early evening. It is bright enough to be visible from just on sunset and to well past 90 minutes after sunset at full dark, when it is two and a half hand-spans above the horizon. During the week Venus moves towards the bright star Spica. On the 14th and 15th Venus is close to the crescent Moon.
Mercury is lost in the twilight and will reappear in the morning skies later in the month.
Jupiter is high in the early evening sky above the northern horizon. It was at Opposition on the May 9th, and is still visible most of the night. It is a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening and is highest around 17:47 local time (just before full dark). There are some good Jovian Moon events this week. This week Jupiter is coming closer to the bright star alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi).
Mars is in Capricornius and is readily seen in the evening. Mars was at opposition last month on July 27th, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. This was the best opposition since 2003. However Mars will remain bright and large in even small telescopes for some time. In a telescope you may see a few features as the huge dust storm sweeping the planet continues to subside. A guide to observing Mars at the time is at my Mars Opposition page.
Saturn is climbing higher the evening sky, and is now a good telescopic object in the mid to late evening sky. It was at opposition, when Saturn is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on June the 27th. It is within binocular range of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae.
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
Australian Perseid Meteor Shower - Morning August 12-14, 2018
 |  |
| Perseid radiant as seen from Darwin at 5:00 am local time, August the 13th, looking north. Click to embiggen. | Perseid radiant as seen from Brisbane at 5:00 am local time, August the 13th, looking north. Note how much lower the radiant is than in Darwin. |
You may have seen Facebook posts (or twitter notifications ) saying that on August 12/13 there will be a meteor shower that will be the brightest ever seen by mankind with Thousands of shooting stars. Well nope. This is the Perseid meteor shower, and though a reliable and good northern hemisphere shower, and hundreds of meteors may be seen under the very best condition, this year the rates will be around usual, nice but not spectacular.
The Perseid Meteor Shower runs from July 17–August 24, and peaks in the early morning between Saturday August 12 - Sunday August 14 AEST. The midpoint is August 12, 20h UT to 13, 08 h UT (6 am on the 13th AEST-6pm AEST on the 13th). See the International Meteor Calendar for 2018 for further details.
Despite this being a quite reasonable meteor shower in the northern hemisphere, for most of Australia the radiant is below the horizon, and only the very occasional meteor will be seen shooting up from the northern horizon. Only observers in northern Australia (at the latitude of Brisbane or further north) will have decent rates.
This is a good year, while the peak occurs after sunrise in Australia, it still occurs reasonably close to radiant maximum height, this years peak is about usual (with a ZHR of 110 meteors per hour predicted) the Moon is near new and will not interfere.
However, these ZHR predictions are ideal rates for sites with the meteor radiant directly overhead, under the darkest possible skies with nothing obscuring the sky. From Australia, we will see much lower rates than these ideal ones. Anyone south of Brisbane will see only the occasional meteor, say maybe one or two per hour (or less), the further north of Brisbane you are, the more meteors you will see.
People around the latitude of Darwin have the best chance of seeing meteors, possibly as many as one every 3 minutes at the peak (see table below). At the latitude of Alice Springs you will see around a meteor every 6 minutes, Cairns is intermediate between Darwin and Alice Springs. At the latitude of Brisbane you will see a meteor every 10 minutes (again, see table below).
To see the meteors, you will need to be up from around 3:30 am local time on the morning of the 12th, 13th or 14th (yes, a really horrible hour of the morning), with best views 4:00 am-5:30 am on the 13th. The meteor shower will be located due North, with the radiant just above the northern horizon (see charts above). Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
When you get up, allow at least 5 minutes for your eyes to adjust, and be patient, it may be several minutes before you are rewarded with you first meteor, then a couple will come along in quick succession. Choose a viewing spot where you can see a large swathe of sky without trees or buildings getting in the way, or with 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).
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 adaptation of your eyes so you can see meteors better).
The following table show the predicted peak rates at around 5 am local time on the mornings of the 12th, 13 and 14th of August for a number of cities under dark sky conditions. Rates will be similar at the same latitude as these cities, and rates will be intermediate at spots between these cities.
| Town | Morning August 12 | Morning August 13 | Morning August 14 |
| Alice Springs | 7 meteors/hr | 10 meteors/hr | 9 meteors/hr |
| Brisbane | 4 meteors/hr | 6 meteors/hr | 5 meteors/hr |
| Darwin | 15 meteors/hr | 24 meteors/hr | 20 meteors/hr |
Rates on the morning of the 15th are similar to that of the 14th. Note, those of you who have Stellarium, in version 13 they have added meteor shower radiants (rates set in the planets dialogue, F4). However while the radiants are shown, the simulated meteors come from random points in the sky, not the radiants.
Labels: Meteors, Perseid, unaided eye
Monday, August 06, 2018
Animations of the July 28 Lunar eclipse (2018)
 |  |
| Entire sequence of the eclipse stacked and aligned in GIMP, starting every 5 minutes until totality and then every 10 minutes until the Moon finally disappeared behind the roof tops (4:06 am.-6:23 am) Sadly the later stages are made rubbish by whatever compression GIMP uses, but you can see the beginning of the glow as maximum eclipse passes (totality ended at 6:44 am; click to embiggen). | Inital sequence of the eclipse up until the start of totality stacked and aligned in ImageJ, starting every 5 minutes until totality. I didn't do the full sequence as aligning moon images in ImageJ is a right pain, and they tend to get out of sequence. but the quality of the fully eclipsed images is much higher. |
Here, as promised, are my animations of the total lunar eclipse of July 28. Because the motor drive on the telescope decided to stop working, I had to manually drive the scope, and the images were not aligned, so I had to align the images by hand. This is a pain in both GIMP and ImageJ (even though there are tools in both to do it they each have their own limitations.
But in the end it work out okay, mostly. not too happy with the way GIMP made the eclipsed images low res, but it does give you a feel for what it was like.
Labels: animation, astrophotography, eclipse, gimp, imageJ, Moon
Friday, August 03, 2018
My images of the July 28 Total Lunar Eclipse
 |  |
| Total Lunar Eclipse of 28 July, 4:06 am. Sony Xperia 1/2000th sec exposure ASA 400. | 28 July, 4:25 am. Sony Xperia 1/2000th sec exposure ASA 400. |
 |  |
| 28 July, 4:51 am. Sony Xperia 1/8th sec exposure ASA 800. 10 minutes to totality. | 28 July, 5:50 am. Sony Xperia 1/8th sec exposure ASA 12000. Pretty much maximum eclipse |
My alarm went off a 3:30 am as planned. The sky was achingly clear, I had everything planned. Observing clothes out, lenses already set out, I had practised setting up the mobile phone on the mobile phone telescope adapter I had bought just for this.
As I got the scope out and set it up I could see the penumbral shadow creeping over the moon. The the motor drive wouldn't track! By the time I gave up and settled for imaging untracked shots a substantial divot had been taken out of the Moon (as seen in the top left hand shot, which is the first image I got).
The Mobile phone adaptor worked like a dream. I took images at 5 minute intervals (more or less, depending on where I was making a cuppa or not) as I watched earth's shadow creep over. As the moon as more and more consumed by shadow, I started playing around with different exposure times and ASA values to try and bring out both the illuminated and eclipsed Moon. Taking images with the phone allowed me to send them to the internet in real time as well.
Then the last sliver of illuminated Moon vanished and we had totality...AANNND I had to move my carefully aligned scope. as the Moon went behind the roof.
 |  |
| "Super Blue Moon" Total Lunar eclipse of 1 February 1:12 am. Sony Xepria 1/500th sec exposure ASA 400. This is a perigee Moon | "Mini Moon" Total Lunar Eclipse of 28 July, 4:25 am. Sony Xepria 1/2000th sec exposure ASA 400. This is an apogee Moon. Note the clear difference in size between the two (same image scale and zoom factor) |
Scope set up again I paused to take in the awesome burnished disk that was the Moon. The sky was dark again and the night hushed. The MiddleOne's friend who was staying over came out (he had accidentally left on his work alarm, both my kids stayed in bed even though I asked them to come out).
Then my firnd Steve and his son turned up. I showed them the eclipsed Moon through the scope via the Mobile (makes it much easier to show people things). Ruddy Mars was a brilliant counterpoint to the copper Moon. Even though the Moon was eclipsed, its show did not stop. As it headed into the central part of Earth's shadow it got darker still becoming a dark grey colour. Then as it moved out of the deepest Shadow the sky began to pale as twilight advanced.. AND I had to move my scope AGAIN as rooves interfered (should have set up in my third spot first).
 |  |
| The Moon and Mars at maximum totality 5:51 am 3x Zoom (Canon IXUS 15 sec, ASA 400) | The Moon and Mars aas twilight creeps in 6:16 am 3x Zoom(Canon IXUS 15 sec, ASA 400) |
The others went off to their beds again and I took my camera and decamped to the beach for the the International Space Staiton Pass and the finale. Got down the end of the road and set up, the sky paled and the Moon faded as it headed towards the sea. Right on time the ISS appeared and began to glide above the eclipsed Moon, pale against the twilight sky but still visible, and Mars.
Unfortunately I had the exposure time too long for the conditions, so the Moon Mars and ISS are a bit washed out, so I had to do a quick exposure change during the ISS shots, so my ISS sequence isn't the best, but boy did it look great when I was watching it.
 |  |
| The International space station zooms over the Moon and Mars 6:42:38(Canon IXUS 5 sec, ASA 400) | The International space station zooms over the Moon and Mars 6:42:46 (Canon IXUS 5 sec, ASA 400) |
And the the Earth's shadow finally slipped off the Moon, the pathc of Moon was still plae against the brightening sky but still brighter tha the eclipsed portion. Eveni=ually the waxin crescent slipped behind the marine layer, and my eclipse was over.
Then I went home, packed up the scopes, had a quick look at others photos and went to bed (well, the sofa so I didn't disturb my Beloved Life Partner) for a quick snooze, the grand adventure finished.
Labels: astrophotography, eclipse, Mars, mobile Phone, Moon
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