What's Happening in the Night Sky? Upcoming Astronomy Events to Look Out For!

[Saladsamurai]

I just saw it last night. It is a quite bright fuzzy star to the unaided eye. Looks like a glowing pom-pom under even modest magnification (20X), but very bright. It looked just like http://www.meade4m.com/cgi-bin/gal_display.cgi?image=1287"

I am pretty sure that I got this comet in my view tonight...but I couldn't get much more than a "greyish fuzzball"...

Out of curiosity, how long does an 8" Newtonian need to cool to ambient temp. it was about 26 degrees F tonight. I wonder if that is why I couldn't see it so great?

Casey

 

[Orion1]

What would cause a sudden steep decrease in a comet's visual magnitude?

Did the comet experience a ice-gas phase 'flash point' with reference to Sol?

If a fraction of a comets surface ice were to suddenly flash into a gas, this would increase the volume and density of its gas envelope and immediately decrease its visual magnitude, would it not?

Or are we examining a type of comet-asteroid collision in space?


Reference:
http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0017P/2007.html

 

[chemisttree]

I am pretty sure that I got this comet in my view tonight...but I couldn't get much more than a "greyish fuzzball"...

Out of curiosity, how long does an 8" Newtonian need to cool to ambient temp. it was about 26 degrees F tonight. I wonder if that is why I couldn't see it so great?

Casey

Aim you telescope at a bright star (like Vega) and put in your shortest focal length eyepiece. Do you see concentric rings around the star just inside or just outside focus? If you do, you have all the resolution you need to view the comet... probably much more.

The comet is dimming out significantly now. The image I see through my telescope is a dim fuzzball, but the nearby stars are still pinpoint and bright.

 

[Saladsamurai]

Aim you telescope at a bright star (like Vega) and put in your shortest focal length eyepiece. Do you see concentric rings around the star just inside or just outside focus? If you do, you have all the resolution you need to view the comet... probably much more.

The comet is dimming out significantly now. The image I see through my telescope is a dim fuzzball, but the nearby stars are still pinpoint and bright.

I have no reason to believe that my telescope is out of collimation, so it must be because it is dimming :(

But I will check the collimation again and try again tonight. Roughly, how long do you let your scope cool on a night that's around 30 Fahrenheit before you attempt viewing?

Casey

 

[chemisttree]

I have a small refractor and a small 4.5" reflector so my experience wouldn't be of much use to you. I would guess that 45 minutes would be more than enough time to cool the telescope down enough for this purpose. Russ or Chronos would have better info for you, I think.

If the telescope hasn't cooled sufficiently, you would see that with the star test. And you probably shouldn't try to recollimate a telescope that isn't at thermal equilibrium.

 

[Saladsamurai]

I have a small refractor and a small 4.5" reflector so my experience wouldn't be of much use to you. I would guess that 45 minutes would be more than enough time to cool the telescope down enough for this purpose. Russ or Chronos would have better info for you, I think.

If the telescope hasn't cooled sufficiently, you would see that with the star test. And you probably shouldn't try to recollimate a telescope that isn't at thermal equilibrium.

Point taken. I'll give it a good hour before I try the comet again tonight.

Thanks chemistree,
Casey

 

[Astronuc]

for these final days of January and the first days of February will be an exceptional time for predawn sky watchers with a beautiful pairing of the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter. They will appear closest together in the dawn sky of Friday, Feb. 1, and a few mornings later, the waning crescent moon will later drop by to join them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080125/sc_space/spectacularskyshowvenusjupiterandthemoon

 

[russ_watters]

I am pretty sure that I got this comet in my view tonight...but I couldn't get much more than a "greyish fuzzball"...

Out of curiosity, how long does an 8" Newtonian need to cool to ambient temp. it was about 26 degrees F tonight. I wonder if that is why I couldn't see it so great?

Casey

Sorry I missed this before (I rarely check this thread). A "greyish fuzzball" is all the comet is. And in a telescope, even at low power, it covered most or all of the field of view. Here's a picture I took of it through my lower power/wider field of view telescope:

http://www.russsscope.net/images/Holmes.jpg

It looked about the same through the eyepiece (not quite as bright or well defined, though).

 

[Saladsamurai]

Nice. Thanks russ. Hey, I just noticed nuc's post about venus and jupiter. I would like to check it out, but I have been reluctant to go out since its freezing in Boston area as of late.

I was just wondering, is there any kind of damage that can occur to my scope due to sub-freezing temperatures? I know I would have to leave it outside for some time to cool the mirror. If not, is there anything to look out for? Like when I bring it back inside to the warmth. Do things get dewey or anything like that?

 

[russ_watters]

Dew is the thing you have to worry about most. Make sure you put the lens caps (don't forger the one on the eyepiece socket) before bringing it inside. It can also be a problem in spring and fall if you leave the scope out all night - it could be dripping wet in the morning.

For actually using it, the cold can make grease more viscous and can play games with the electronics, but neither of these cause permanent damage.

 

[Saladsamurai]

Cool. There are no electronics, so that is a bonus!

 

[Saladsamurai]

I heard there is a partial lunar eclipse tonight. I am going to Google around now to find the details.EDIT It's a total eclipse. . . here is the link
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html

 

[NLocke]

National Dark Sky Week

This years national dark sky week is March 29 to April 4.
To find out more about National Dark Sky Week, visit http://ndsw.org/

 

[Saladsamurai]

Moon will occult Pleiades on April 8th, 2008. I am not sure who this will be viewable to. Anyone know?

 

[neutrino]

Moon will occult Pleiades on April 8th, 2008. I am not sure who this will be viewable to. Anyone know?

Have an eye out for alerts from this site, or you could run their software.

 

[Saladsamurai]

Have an eye out for alerts from this site, or you could run their software.

I can't get this page to load. Also, I can't seem to see a section for US...only Europe?

 

[russ_watters]

Looks like it won't be visible from the Eastern US. It's tough: the moon is near new and it starts right around at moonset for the eastern US. For the west, you get a couple of hours of it, but the view from Starry Night says that it won't be occulting any of the major stars - it's just a close pass.

 

[Saladsamurai]

Looks like it won't be visible from the Eastern US. It's tough: the moon is near new and it starts right around at moonset for the eastern US. For the west, you get a couple of hours of it, but the view from Starry Night says that it won't be occulting any of the major stars - it's just a close pass.

Really? Damn. The article I read in Sky at Night said it was gone going to be all bad-ass. Like a nice sliver of the moon. Damn.

 

[George Jones]

Looks like it won't be visible from the Eastern US. It's tough: the moon is near new and it starts right around at moonset for the eastern US. For the west, you get a couple of hours of it, but the view from Starry Night says that it won't be occulting any of the major stars - it's just a close pass.

Take a look at Sault Ste. Marie and Fargo.

 

[Saladsamurai]

Anything good going on that anyone knows of?

 

[vincentm]

LIGO's Sample the Sky event.

 

[isly ilwott]

I got this from a friend by email. Is there truth to it?



Two moons on August 27th what the Whole World is waiting for.... Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will Cultivate on August 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the Earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it Again.

 

[chemisttree]

Not a word is true. This is a viral e-mail that comes around every August.

 

[pixel01]

I got this from a friend by email. Is there truth to it?



Two moons on August 27th what the Whole World is waiting for.... Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will Cultivate on August 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the Earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it Again.

No, it isn't any true. In fact the hoax started in August 2003 when Mars was closest to Earth in recorded history (about 56mil km). Since then, every August, the hoax emails have been sent to everywhere. This august Mars is quite far from Earth though.

 

[tonightssky]

Dont forget the Leonid meteor shower tonight!

also Mark your calendars for December 1, as the moon, venus and Jupiter will gather very close and it will make for a great show.

For more of the Lastest Night Sky events check out http://www.tonightssky.org"

 

[tonightssky]

ISS and Space Shuttle sightings: The space shuttle is docked to the ISS and they are making visible passes over North America, For local Flyby times click http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys"

Remember more info at http://www.tonightssky.org"

 

[tonightssky]

Check out the view to the southwest after sundown, Venus and Jupiter are growing closer and preparing for a meeting with the moon, more later...

Remember http://www.tonightssky.org"

 

[Stick]

Check out the view to the southwest after sundown, Venus and Jupiter are growing closer and preparing for a meeting with the moon, more later...

A few days ago I was stepping through Stellarium and noticed just that; Jupiter, Venus, & the crescent Moon will all be in a tight group in the South-Southwest sky. While they are nearing each other (our perspective) they will appear closest to each other on the nights of 11/30-12/1. (The moon will be rightmost on the 30th and leftmost on the 1st. Will be a pretty cool sight.

I was going to post a question regarding this and a search hit on this thread. Is there a practical way to know when this will happen again?

 

[tonightssky]

Well stellarium is a good place to start, I don't know of any site that puts information years ahead, though I know this is the best planetary conjunction this year.

 

[russ_watters]

You can download free planetarium software and just scroll forward in time.

 

[tonightssky]

shot from earlier this evening...

http://www.tonightssky.org"

 

[tonightssky]

Check out venus Jupiter and the ISS tonight! check out spaceweather.com/flybys for local flybys times.

 

[Hookemhorn21]

Those are some great pics tonightssky.

 

[tonightssky]

Thank you Hookemhorn21!

Here is another of the two, this time with the International space station running along the milkyway!

 

[tonightssky]

Aurora Watch: People living at high latitudes should be alert for northern lights between the 25th and 26th of November, visit Tonightssky.org for updates