Sunday, November 30, 2008

"Triple conjunction" just 24 hours away: the highlight of the final month

First Jupiter and Venus crept closer towards each other and since yesterday the crescent Moon is joining the picture: going backwards in time, selected views from Germany, various locations and Australia on Nov. 30, the U.S., Germany, various places, Germany again and Australia on Nov. 29, various sites on Nov. 28, Germany, Austria and Australia on Nov. 27, the U.S. on Nov. 24 and Austria on Nov. 23 - celestial mechanics in action! And the best is to come tomorrow.So much for the predictable highlights of Dec. 2008.

In other news the first meteorites that fell after the well-documented Canadian bolide of Nov. 20 have been found and celebrated widely (see here and here and here and here and here and here for coverage and pictures). • Another Canadian bolide - and a rumbling sound in Wales. • According to at least one theorist the Leonids in 2009 could reach a ZHR of 500, i.e. 5 times the typical Perseids. Others haven't confirmed that yet. • Comet Borrelly with a long tail on Nov. 30. • Sometimes here true live images of comets can be seen.

• There is a possible nova in Carina with 7th mag. • And finally the toolbag lost during the 1st EVA of STS-126 has not only been filmed near Eta Psc (which made the videographer kind of famous), it has also been sighted visually, sometimes at 6.5 mag., sometimes even naked-eye, leading the ISS by several minutes already. Predictions are easy to get, and even public events have been proposed - while parodies of the incident abound ...

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