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

[tonightssky]

Aurora Watch: Keep an eye to the sky tonight, activity with decrease within the next 24 hours.

Planets, check out the view to the southwest after sunset, especially on December 1. Jupiter and Venus are a great pair of bright objects in the sunseting sky.

 

[tonightssky]

Thanksgiving sunset planets: Happy Thanksgiving! Look south after sunset, you'll see a beautiful pair of bright objects, jupiter, and venus.

 

[tonightssky]

Tonight is the night astronomers are calling 'the best sky show of the year' DONT MISS IT! look southwest after sunset, youll see the moon, Jupiter and venus having a heavenly gathering. More at http://www.tonightssky.org"

Clear Skies!

 

[tonightssky]

In case you missed it here is what it looked like...

Look closely, can you find 2 of Jupiters moons?

 

[tonightssky]

Aurora Watch: December 4th a solar wind stream will hit Earth sparking northern lights, skywatchers should be alert!

Other events coming up:

-Geminid Meteor shower- dec. 13-14
-Moon/venus | Jupiter/Mercury Conjunction Dec. 31

MORE AT: http://www.tonightssky.org"

 

[Saladsamurai]

Who can see the aurora? I live on the Northeast (U.S.). Can I see it? SHould I use my scope or would my binos be better for something like this?

Thanks!

 

[tonightssky]

Aurora Watch: December 4th, though best conditions will be on the 5th, the wind stream should arrive. Here are the probablities:

Mid Latitudes (between 35-50 degrees North Latitude)

Active Conditions: 40%
Minor Storm: 10%
Major Storm: 1%

High Latitudes (50-90 degrees North Latitude)

Active Conditions: 45%
Minor Storm: 15%
Major Storm: 10%

Note: all probablities apply to the peak of the storm, when it arrives.

Kp Values:

mid Lat: 3-5 Active, 5-6 minor, 7-9 major

http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/kp.html"

Saladsamurai: with a minor storm you have a good chance to see them, you are in mid latitude, so your relative chance is 10% (which is pretty high, and rare during a solar minimum) Aurora is a widefield colorful display, no need for eye aiding devices, the only suggestion I would give you is to find some non-light-polluted skies. Light Pollution can ruin a minor display. For more questions or updates on this event visit http://www.tonightssky.org"

 

[hypatia]

I really enjoy your photos, they are truly beautiful. I wish you would post some of them in the General discussion area of the forum {nature shots} so more people can see them.

 

[tonightssky]

Just an update...

Geminid meteor shower peaked last night, and what a show it was, I saw two meteors in 30 secs, about 15 meteors per hour. I caught one on the cam here...

 

[Absolution]

I can't see anything here in Singapore with all the city lights, can I? :(

 

[montoyas7940]

I can't see anything here in Singapore with all the city lights, can I? :(

Apparently the conditions in the city are very bad for night sky observing. That is a shame. There is some good info and links here.

http://lightpollutionsg.tripod.com/

You may have to get out of the city some distance to get good conditions.

Here is a link to a howto for the light pollution overlay on google earth.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-404-0-0-1-0.html

You can use it to find the nearest decent light conditions.

Good luck

 

[Absolution]

Thanks! :)

Will try out the links! We have an observatory at the Science Centre, but sadly i haven't got a chance to go there yet... Previously when the Mars, Moon and Earth(or was it the Sun) were in a line - pardon me i can't remember what its called - i did go there, but the queue was so long...

 

[tonightssky]

Just Posting some recent stuff, This is all related to the Spectacular New Years Eve conjunction...

Comet Lulin: by the end of the month this should be a naked eye object visible in the morning sky. stay tuned for updates.

 

[George Jones]

Just Posting some recent stuff, This is all related to the Spectacular New Years Eve conjunction...

Yes, I saw this tonight.

 

[Sorry!]

woah that is awesome.. never knew this place existed at these forums haha :p

where r u located in order to see those three planets .. cud i see them say from toronto??

i'm sure i can see venus ... its usually pretty close to the moon when i notice it and pretty damn bright.

 

[George Jones]

where r u located in order to see those three planets .. cud i see them say from toronto??

I saw them last night from the centre of Saint John, New Brunswick.

Where in Toronto? It would be difficult, for example, to see Mercury and Jupiter right now from Bay and Bloor. You need a fairly unobstructed view of the western horizon just after sunset. I saw them from an overpass that spans a highway and some railroad tracks which run through an east-west corridor.

 

[Sorry!]

well i actually live in mississauga so i get a pretty good un obstructed view of the sky kind of close to the lake

 

[tonightssky]

Mercury should be fairly easy to spot still, but Jupiter is setting eariler and eariler each day, so look as soon as possible. Last night I could barely image all three together, Jupiter is starting to get lost in twilight. (and yes, almost everyone in the world sees the same sky, at least in the same Hemisphere)

And I am located in Omaha, Nebraska

I attempted to spot Comet N3 Lulin this morning with my small scope, but Didnt have luck, I think it is still too dim to be found during the beginning of twilight - at least in the city light pollution.

More later...

 

[hypatia]

Looking at the planets have been great, and I saw a straggler of a meteor while in the parking lot at work the other morning. It made a dashing path across the sky, very nice.

 

[tonightssky]

Hey guys, tonights full moon is the biggest it will be all year! literaly! it will appear 14% larger than most nights, its barely noticable, but check it out before at sunrise, while its near the horizon.

Also Jim Saueressig of Burlington Kansas took this image early yesterday morning of the comet. (it is to the right of the bright star circled) Some estimations put it between 6 and 7 Magnitude, not yet visible to the naked eye, but observers are seeing a great coma and anti-tail!

NOTE: I did not take this photo, to view more of Jim's photos check out his http://www.flickr.com/photos/kansashorizons"

Check my website for the latest on Comet N3 Lulin! http://www.tonightssky.org"

 

[tonightssky]

Comet Lulin: now is the best time to check out this comet, its currently a magnitude 5.6 from recent estimates. It is visible with binoculars to big city light polluted skies. Many incredible images have been taken, this WILL be the brightest comet of 2009. It should peak in its brightness by February 24th probably at mag 5.4 to 5.2 Also on the 24th, the comet travels right next to Saturn - while Saturn's moon's transit the planet! - this is a very rare occurance. IF you live in dark skies, the comet should be visible to the naked eye!

use the sky map below to locate the comets position, or on the 24th, find saturn and use binoculars, the comet and planet will be in the same field of view!

To view more images, and to get more information on this comet, as well as more sky maps check out my webpage on the comet...

http://www.tonightssky.org/latestnightskyevents.html

remember to check out my website http://www.tonightssky.org"

 

[hypatia]

Cygnus the Swan, is over head this month. For anyone new to sky/star watching, this summer month brings us the "Northern Cross". Three stars make up a triangle, a blue-white star named Vega, northern most Deneb and closest to the horizon, Altair.
One way to recognize the Summer Triangle is notice that there is a cross within the Triangle. The constellation Cygnus is that cross.
I hope everyone gets to go out sometime this week and take a peek.

 

[Sorry!]

Hey guys, every night while I walk home I always look up at the stars. I always see two objects that I wonder what they are.

One is extremely bright and yellow. I always assumed that it was Venus. Its pretty big in the sky.

The other is a twinkling red object. No idea what this could be. I assume since it twinkles its a star sometimes it appears as if it changes from the redish colour to a blueish off white.

 

[George Jones]

Hey guys, every night while I walk home I always look up at the stars. I always see two objects that I wonder what they are.

One is extremely bright and yellow. I always assumed that it was Venus. Its pretty big in the sky.

The other is a twinkling red object. No idea what this could be. I assume since it twinkles its a star sometimes it appears as if it changes from the redish colour to a blueish off white.

It's difficult to say without more information.

Are you looking towards the south around midnight? If so, you could be seeing Jupiter (left, very bright, whitish) and the red giant star (right) Antares.

 

[chemisttree]

Sounds like Antares (red toward the south) and Arcturus (orange, overhead in the evening).

 

[Sorry!]

Sounds like Antares (red toward the south) and Arcturus (orange, overhead in the evening).

After looking at pictures of Antares it does look like it could be what I'm seeing. Although the object I see looks relatively smaller than most of the other stars around it.

And yes I am looking to the south when I see the other object. Pictures of Jupiter do look pretty similar. I'll try to get pictures tonight guys. thanks :D

 

[hypatia]

November is perhaps my favorite month to watch the sky. It of course, is the hunters moon, but Saturn hangs out just to the left of it for the next few days.
Keep a eye out 17th, The Leonid meteor showers peek performance!

 

[bcmarshall]

Earth v. Moon

Sorry, I'm a newbie here and didn't know how to start a new thread, so I figured I'd post a question in this one since it has a lot of subscribers.

I'm arguing with a friend about how a half-Earth would appear from the Moon. Since we see the Moon in phases, it makes sense that watching the Earth from the Moon would also offer the same phenomenon, Full Earth, Half Earth, New Earth. My question is if one is looking at a Half Earth from the Moon, would the shadow line appear horizontal or vertical.

My belief is that since the Moon is in a roughly equatorial orbit around the Earth, then the equators of the two objects are facing each other, with their axes within a few degrees of being parallel. Since we see the Half Moon as vertical from here, I conclude since there is no mechanism I can envision which would alter the perception, it should appear as a vertical line on the Earth as well.

My friend believes the shadow line should appear horizontally across the Earth.

I'd welcome any comments or explanations.

 

[bcmarshall]

My apologies. I figured out too late how to start a new thread and did so. Please post any responses at the other link, https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2452328#post2452328"

Thanks.

 

[emc2cracker]

Sorry, I'm a newbie here and didn't know how to start a new thread, so I figured I'd post a question in this one since it has a lot of subscribers.

I'm arguing with a friend about how a half-Earth would appear from the Moon. Since we see the Moon in phases, it makes sense that watching the Earth from the Moon would also offer the same phenomenon, Full Earth, Half Earth, New Earth. My question is if one is looking at a Half Earth from the Moon, would the shadow line appear horizontal or vertical.

My belief is that since the Moon is in a roughly equatorial orbit around the Earth, then the equators of the two objects are facing each other, with their axes within a few degrees of being parallel. Since we see the Half Moon as vertical from here, I conclude since there is no mechanism I can envision which would alter the perception, it should appear as a vertical line on the Earth as well.

My friend believes the shadow line should appear horizontally across the Earth.

I'd welcome any comments or explanations.

Thats simple really look at the google results from "earth images from the moon"

http://images.google.com/images?rlz...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQsAQwAA

hope that helps, a picture is worth a thousand words they say

 

[Telmerk]

Have you heard about that? A huge meteor (bolida) hit the atmosphere in 28th February somewhere in Hungary or Slovakia, at the border. It is possible that some remnants hit the ground as well. A lot of people heard ans saw the blast, there are seismology data as well. These are now under evaluation.

http://www.rtlhirek.hu/video/84397

2 minutes (in Hungarian)

 

[bcmarshall]

Thanks. No, I hadn't heard about it. I'm having my Hungarian native uncle translate it for me tomorrow.

 

[Telmerk]

Hi,

I recommend the hirek.csillagaszat.hu website, as a trustworthy source of astronomy news in Hungarian. (non-profit, and the news are edited and reviewed by professional and amateur astronomers together.)

http://hirek.csillagaszat.hu/meteoroidok,_meteorok/20100301-tuzgomb-magyarorszag-felett.html
Title is: "Now it is clear: a bolid has exploded over Hungary"

Kind regards,
TtM

 

[Mu naught]

The moon is in conjunction with Antares right now. Go take a look!

 

[Glennage]

Not sure if this counts but... It's an event non-the-less...

Space Weather Message Code: WARSUD
Serial Number: 73
Issue Time: 2010 May 28 0220 UTC

WARNING: Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse expected
Valid From: 2010 May 28 0245 UTC
Valid To: 2010 May 28 0345 UTC
IP Shock Passage Observed: 2010 May 28 0203 UTC



NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
"www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales"[/URL][/QUOTE]

[PLAIN]http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/index.html"

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/alerts/warnings_timeline.html"