Astroblog

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2026 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, occultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a good Total Lunar eclipse visible Australia wide and at a good time in the evening so all can watch. There are good oppositions of Jupiter and Saturn and a daytime occultation of Jupiter and some nice occultations of Antares.

As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded. T indicates a telescope only event. As well as apogee and perigee moons I have also included times when the Lunar X is visible at First Quarter. 

Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 3:06 pm 1 comments

Evening sky on Friday, May 2 as seen from Adelaide at 23:00 ACST. Asteroid Vesta is at apposition in Libra.  The inset is the binocular view of Vesta at this time. At magnitude 5.7 it will be an easy binocular object near clear guide stars. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time.	The approximate wide field binocular view of Vesta and the guide stars at 23:00 ACST from Friday, April 25 on with the track of Vesta shown  (click to embiggen, similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time).
Black and white horizon chart facing North suitable for printing showing the guide objects of 4 Vesta, Antares, 𝛃 Librae (Zubeneschamali), μ Virginis (Rijl Al Awwa, unlabeled in this view) and Arcturus as seen from Adelaide at 23:00 ACST at Saturday 25 April. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. Use the charts above to orient yourself to get to the guide stars.	Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing showing the movement of 4 Vesta over April-May. The large circle represents the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embiggen and print.  Use the horizon chart to the left for orientation first.

The Asteroid 4 Vesta is one of the iconic minor planets, and one of two orbited by the Dawn spacecraft. At favorable oppositions Vesta is bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye under dark sky conditions. This year it gets to magnitude 5.7 just over unaided eye visibility at dark sky sites. Not really visible from suburban skies, but it will be easily visible in binoculars and small telescopes.

This year Friday, May 2 is a  good opposition of Vesta, when it will reach a magnitude of 5.7 at its brightest with reasonable guide stars and no Moon interference.

Labels: 4 Vesta, Asteroid, binocular

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 3:28 pm 0 comments

The Total Lunar Eclipse of September 8, 2025 as seen at 03:30 AEST, the inset is the approximate binocular view at this time. Similar view will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (detailed tables will be available before hand). Click to embiggen.

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2025 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a good Total Lunar eclipse visible Australia wide. We get multiple occultations of the bright star Antares. There are good oppositions of Mars and Saturn. Comet C/20024 G3 ATLAS may be visible low in the evening twilight at the end of January, if it survives its passage around the Sun.

As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers (although the moon is a pest).

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded. T indicates a telescope only event. As well as apogee and perigee moons I have also included times when the Lunar X is visible at First Quarter.

Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 2:15 pm 0 comments

Black and White printable map for locating Vesta at s asimilar scale to the images. Elnath and zeta Tau (Tianguan) are fairly obvious and Vesta is near 121 Tau. Click to embiggen	Photorealistic map for locating Vesta (and in conjunction with the printable map). Elnath and zeta Tau (Tianguan) are fairly obvious and Vesta is near 121 Tau. Click to embiggen.
Stack of 30x 1 second exposures at ISO 3200 with my canon IXUS "point and shoot" on 8 March. Click to embiggen.	Labelled Stack of 30x 1 second exposures at ISO 3200 with my canon IXUS "point and shoot" on 8 March. Click to embiggen.
Stack of 10x 4 second exposures at ISO 3200 with my Samsung S24 on 8 March. Click to embiggen.	Labelled stack of 10x 4 second expsures at ISO 3200 with my Samsung S24 on 8 March. Click to embiggen.

So how did my asteroid 4 Vesta imaging challenge go? Remember my original attempt didn't go too well, despite my confidence. 

I had a second opportunity on the 8th. The sky clarity was better, I could actually see Tianguan (zeta tau) and Elnath on the back of the camera/phone screen in test shots (there was a lot of groobling around on the ground setting up the shots  and several test exposures to get the right patch zoomed in. My Knees do not like me as I did this on the gravel bike path near the beach. 

But eventually I got Tianguan (zeta tau) and Elnath framed at a good zoom level (don't ask me what the Zoom is, the Canon IXUS just gives a zoom bar and the Samsung S24 give a zoom level but I forgot to record it. Both the IXUS and Samsung were on a tripod (I have a special adapter to pones for my tripod).

For the point and shoot IXUS I took 30 x 1 second frames at ISO 3200 (f/5.6), as the IXUS doesn't take exposures longer than 1 second (well it does, but defaults to ISO 50!). I traded noise for sensitivity. I also took a dark frame (exposure exactly the same as the main images but with the lens blocked to account for noise. The frames were then stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, the stacked output saved (a TIFF file), then exposure adjusted in The GIMP and the TIFF converted to JPG. 

Unlike last time 4 Vesta was clearly (if faintly visible). You should embiggen the images above to see Vesta clearly.

For the Samsung S24 I took 10 x 4 second frames at ISO 3200, f/3.4no dark frame though. The frames were then processed as for the IXUS (stacked in Deepsky Stacker, the stacked output saved (a TIFF file), then exposure adjusted in The GIMP and the TIFF converted to JPG). The result is much better than the single 10 second exposure.  

The Samsung S24 is cheating though, few cameras/phones have a 200 megapixel camera. They will be closer to the 20 megapixel IXUS. But the point is that even with an ordinary camera phone and stacking you can take effective astrophotos down to at least magnitude 8. This opens up a world of sky imaging you didn't think you could access with simple equipment. 

How did others go, Well Brendan got Vesta on the 9th,

Vesta is seen faintly above121 tau and has clearly moved since my images on the 8th.

 If anyone else has images and wants to submit them, let me know. 
 

Single 10 second second exposure at ISO 3200 with my Samsung S24 on 3 March, Vesta is just visible.	Labelled stack of 10x 4 second expsures at ISO 3200 with my Samsung S24 on 8 March. Click to embiggen.

In these images from 3 and 8 mrach you can clearly see the movement of Vesta.

Labels: 4 Vesta, Asteroid, astrophotography, gimp

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 10:25 pm 0 comments

Black and White printable Black and White printable Northern horizon map for locating Vesta. Map is set at astronomical twilight,  21:12 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset. Elnath and zeta Tau (Tianguan) are fairly obvious below Orion. Click  to embiggen and print.and print.	Black and White printable map for locating Vesta suitable for binoculars. Elnath and zeta Tau (Tianguan) are fairly obvious and Vesta is near 121 Tau. The circle is the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click  to embiggen and print.
Photrealistic Northern horizon map for locating Vesta (and in conjunction with the printable map). The mMap is set at astronomical twilight,  21:12 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset. Elnath and zeta Tau (Tianguan) are fairly obvious below Orion. Click  to embiggen .	Photrealistic  map for locating Vesta suitable for binoculars (and in conjunction with the printable map). Elnath and zeta Tau (Tianguan) are fairly obvious and Vesta is near 121 Tau. Click  to embiggen.
Stack of 10x 1 second exposures at ISO 3200 with my canon IXUS "point and shoot" on 3 March, Vesta is not readily visible.	Single 10 second second exposure at ISO 3200 with my Samsung S24 on 3 March, Vesta is just visible.

So, for this months Astrophotography challenge I set "imaging the Asteroid 4 Vesta". Now vesta is magnitude 8 at the moment, a bit dim, but visible in binoculars and potentially image-able with fairly ordinary cameras using stacking, a powerful software technique where multiple images and be combinted to enhance dim objects.  

The biggest challenge is actually aiming your camera, even though the horns of the bull, Elnath and zeta Tau (Tianguan) are fairly obvious, they did not really show up well in the back of my canon IXUS not the mobile phone. So I had to do a bit of guess work in aiming and do a number of test shots to get Elnath and zeta Tau in view.

For the Canon IXUS "point and shoot" camera I took 10 x 1 second exposures at ISO 3200 and stacked them in Deep Sky Stacker, This wasa simple "drag and drop" procedure. I was limited to 1 second exposures because Canon messed up their long duration exposures (anything over 1 second defaults to 50 ISO, which is useless). The stack revealed several of the expected guide stars (and a couple of satellites) but no unambiguous Vesta. I'll try again with a deeper stack (20 + images, and some dark frames for noise reduction if the weather clears up before the Moon comes out again (around the 12-13th).

For the Samsung s24 I took a single 10 second shot at ISO 3200, this *just* revealed Vesta (see image above), so if the clouds go away I will try stacking multiple shots with the S24. 

Free Stacking software includes Deep Sky Stacker and Autostakkert for Windows,  and StarStaX for macOS.

Labels: 4 Vesta, Asteroid, astrophotography

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 12:55 am 0 comments

Occultation of Saturn on 27 June 2024 at 22:50 AEST, as seen from Brisbane, as Saturn is just being covered by the Moon. The inset is the approximate binocular view at this time. Most of Australia will enjoy similar views at the roughly equivalent local times (detailed tables will be available before hand). Click to embiggen.

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2024 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a Penumbral Lunar eclipse best visible from eastern Australia. We get multiple occultations of Saturn (some daylight only). A couple of occultations of the Pleiades, and an occultation of the bright star Antares (only visible western and central Australia). There are good oppositions of Jupiter and Saturn. Mars is at opposition in January 2025 but we get a good run up to it. We also get a comet in September/October, C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which may be a fizzer but just might be spectacular.

As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded.

Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 7:31 pm 1 comments

Evening sky on Friday, December 22 as seen from Adelaide at 22:16 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset). Asteroid Vesta is at apposition in Orion.  The inset is the binocular view of Vesta at this time. At magnitude 6.6 it will be an easy binocular object near clear guide stars. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time.	The approximate binocular view of Vesta and the guide stars at on from Thursday, December 23 on.  with the track of Vesta shown  (click to embiggen, similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time).
Black and white horizon chart facing east suitable for printing showing the guide objects of 4 Vesta Elnath, Propus and Chi orionus  as seen from Adelaide at 22:16 ACDST. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. Use the charts above to orient yourself to get to the guide stars.	Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing showing the movement of 4 Vesta over December. The large circle represents the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embiggen and print.  Use the horizon chart to the left for orientation first.

The Asteroid 4 Vesta is one of the iconic minor planets, and one of two orbited by the Dawn spacecraft. At favorable oppositions Vesta is bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye under dark sky conditions. This year it gets to magnitude 5.8 just over unaided eye visibility at dark sky sites. Not really visible from suburban skies, but it will be easily visible in binoculars and small telescopes.

This year on Friday, December 22 is a  so-so opposition of Vesta, when it will reach a magnitude of 6.4  at its brightest with reasonable guide stars and some Moon interference. The next bright opposition is May 2025 it will reach magnitude 5.6 with good guide stars.

Labels: 4 Vesta, Asteroid, binocular

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 8:26 pm 0 comments

Occultation of the Pleiades on 31 October 2023 at 01:24 ACDST, as seen from Adelaide shortly before it covers Alcyone, eta Tauri, the brightest star in Pleiades cluster (the inset show the binocular view of this). Most of Australia will enjoy similar views at the roughly equivalent local times (adjust for daylight savings). Click to embiggen.

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2023 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a Partial Lunar eclipse best visible from western Australia. A Total Solar eclipse is visible from the tip of Western Australia and everywhere else sees a partial eclipse (best from WA and central north). There are good oppositions of Jupiter and Saturn. We also get an occultation of the Pleiades and a binocular comet.

As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded.

Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 3:50 pm 3 comments

The North-east horizon as seen from Adelaide at 20:00 ACST (8:00 pm) showing the location of Vesta (click to embiggen) on Tuesday, August 23, when Vesta is at opposition and at its brightest.Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time.	The approximate binocular view of Vesta and the four guide stars at 20:00 ACST (8:00 pm) on Tuesday, August 23.  The helix nebula is shown but will not be visible in binoculars(click to embiggen, similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time).
Black and white horizon chart facing east suitable for printing showing the guide objects of 4 Vesta Saturn and Fomalhaut as seen from Adelaide at 22:00 ACDST. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. Use the charts above to orient yourself to get to the guide stars.	Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing showing the movement of 4 Vesta over August. The large circle represents the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embiggen and print.  Use the horizon chart to the left for orientation first.

The Asteroid 4 Vesta is one of the iconic minor planets, and one of two orbited by the Dawn spacecraft. At favorable oppositions Vesta is bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye under dark sky conditions. This year it gets to magnitude 5.8 just over unaided eye visibility at dark sky sites. Not really visible from suburban skies, but it will be easily visible in binoculars and small telescopes.

This year on Tuesday, August 23 is a okay opposition of Vesta, when it will reach a magnitude of 5.8  at its brightest with reasonable guide stars. The next bright opposition is  May 2025 it will reach magnitude 5.6 with good guide stars.

Labels: 4 Vesta, Asteroid, binocular, unaided eye

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 8:41 pm 0 comments

Mars, Venus, crescent Moon,  Mercury and Saturn on 27 February 2022 at 06:04 ACDST, (90 Minutes before sunrise) as seen from Adelaide. Most of Australia will enjoy similar views 90 Minutes before sunrise. Click to embiggen.

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2022 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a good Total Lunar eclipse. There are good oppositions of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Mars skims past the Pleiades and Hydaes clusters.

As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded.

Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:21 pm 1 comments