A rare eclipse of a star visible - in principle - in binoculars by a double asteroid, (90) Antiope, will be visible in Western parts of the U.S. and central Canada in the night 18/19 July: The eclipse of the star LQ Aquarii will last up to 30 seconds in a 125-mile-wide path from the San Francisco Bay area to Boise and W. Montana, then crossing the border (and into bright dawn), and a few who happen to be in the right place might see two eclipses, one by each component of the Antiope pair. Anyone in the path can help accurately measure the size and shape of the objects by making simple observations of the eclipse , though, and the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) seeks as many observations of the eclipse as possible. The Moon will be nearby and bright, making the 6.7-mag. star hard to see with small optics - but if you aren't there, don't have clear skies or suitable optics, don't worry: The event will be webcast plus recorded with a lot of cameras!
In other solar system stories meteorites & the law, the NEO 2002 NY40 - many saw rushing thru the sky - as a bolide source, and bolide stories from New Zealand and Brazil. • While comet Garradd is not in outburst, it's still worth observing, as pictures of July 10, July 9, July 8 and July 7 - by M. Jäger - show. • News comets C/2011 N1 and N2, the big sungrazer was also seen in front of the Sun (enhanced), but why is unclear - and Hartley 2 had a dust trail! • The June lunar eclipse in a wide-angle time-lapse movie from Tajikistan and pictures from Namibia, Israel and Italy; also the umbra study gets mentioned. • One fish-eye picture with a lot of planets on July 9 - and Jupiter close-ups of July 16 (another one) and July 11.
From the Sun thoughts about flares on 7 June 2011 and 14 July 2000 (still a science topic!), also new ways to measure magnetism around the Sun. • The light curve of SN 2011 dh in M 51 so far (and pictures of July 12 and July 9), the unusual brightness of Del Sco and the light curve of Eps Aur. • More nice NLC displays over the U.K. on July 14, Germany and the U.K. (more, more, more, more, more, more, more and more) and elsewhere on July 10, from the U.K. on July 7/8 (and stream: more, more and more), from Sweden on July 5 and Ireland on July 2. • A meteor camera recorded sprites. • And for the last time the ISS w/shuttle in front of the Sun (more), also a windy video and report about another transit, a glory seen from a camera on the launching shuttle - and a report on amateur astronomers imaging the launch.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Huge noctilucent cloud displays seen at appropriate northern latitudes
Early July marks the middle of the 'official' northern NLC season from mid-May to mid-August - and this year these weird clouds at 80 to 85 km delivered, although mainly for latitudes around 55°N, with the most spectacular reports and pictures coming from Cumbria (northern England) and Scotland, esp. on the morning of July 3. A so-so display over Germany in the night July 5/6 (also sightings in the U.S.). The great U.K. outburst on the morning of July 3 reported in all detail from Cumbria and also by another Cumbrian (picture stream, also here and here, with more here, here, here, here and here; got even in one paper) and a Scot (another, another and another) and another and another Brit, plus more, more and more pictures. From July 2 a cellphone and more U.S. images, a moderate U.K. morning show (more, more, another observer, more) and German sightings. From July 1 another U.K. report and Scottish pictures plus German sightings, also on June 29. Plus a Dutch report and a growing gallery.
Solar system small bodies: an updated lightcurve and animation of it, another big page and trailed images of NEA 2011 MD - which came so close that Earth's oblateness had orbital effects! • A recording of a webcast of a star occultation by an asteroid, foiled by one cloud ... • A German lunar impact observation is now official (and sets a record for the smallest telescope, 10 cm). • New French meteor predictions out. • A bright sungrazer hit the Sun last night (hi-res still; more) • Pictures of July 5 and July 2 (another one) and the lightcurve (from this site) of promising comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd).
Moon vs. Sun: the setting crescent on July 4 (still), Mercury & the Moon and the Moon setting on July 2, the very young Moon from Oz on July 2, two partial eclipses as seen by Proba 2 - which won a price with this - on July 1 and Venus & the Moon on June 30. • Also a slideshow of the lunar eclipse on June 15 from India and a summary plus cloudy Iceland pictures (trip report) of the solar eclipse on June 1. • Epsilon Aurigae is completely "back" now. • A nice ISS Sun transit of May 10. • And a report, another and another from the ALCON event at Bryce Canyon.
Solar system small bodies: an updated lightcurve and animation of it, another big page and trailed images of NEA 2011 MD - which came so close that Earth's oblateness had orbital effects! • A recording of a webcast of a star occultation by an asteroid, foiled by one cloud ... • A German lunar impact observation is now official (and sets a record for the smallest telescope, 10 cm). • New French meteor predictions out. • A bright sungrazer hit the Sun last night (hi-res still; more) • Pictures of July 5 and July 2 (another one) and the lightcurve (from this site) of promising comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd).
Moon vs. Sun: the setting crescent on July 4 (still), Mercury & the Moon and the Moon setting on July 2, the very young Moon from Oz on July 2, two partial eclipses as seen by Proba 2 - which won a price with this - on July 1 and Venus & the Moon on June 30. • Also a slideshow of the lunar eclipse on June 15 from India and a summary plus cloudy Iceland pictures (trip report) of the solar eclipse on June 1. • Epsilon Aurigae is completely "back" now. • A nice ISS Sun transit of May 10. • And a report, another and another from the ALCON event at Bryce Canyon.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Well-hidden solar eclipse starts Saros 156 - the first new one in 83 years
Only the ESA satellite Proba 2 could observe it as the zone of visibility off Antarctica was as remote as it gets - but the tiny partial eclipse of the Sun early today was special: It marked the beginning of a new solar eclipse cycle, with the number 156; the last one with number 155 had been "born" on 17 June 1928. "We will not have to wait as long for the next new solar eclipse saros cycle to start," explains Jordan Sutton on the Solar Eclipse Mailing List: "just under 47 years until saros 157 is born on June 21, 2058. Saros 156 contains 69 eclipses, starting with eight partial eclipses, [...] followed by 52 annular eclipses, and concluding with nine partial eclipses." No total eclipses are included but that's not unusual. • After months of secret preparations it's now official: The 4th Solar Eclipse Conference will take place in India in December; Details are still sketchy, though. • There is already a paper on the umbra on the June 15 lunar eclipse (two more reports from Turkey and Austria). • On June 30 the Moon occulted Venus in places like Jordan, or there was a close appulse as on La Palma (more, more) or a wider conjunction as in the U.K. (more, more); the day before the Moon was near Mars.
Sky highlights in July (see here, here, here and here) consist mainly of a mediocre evening visibility of Mercury which has already begun, the coincidence of peri- and apogee of the Moon with 1st and last quarter and the occultation of a faint star by asteroid (52) Europa which can be observed in the U.S. • Some more reports also on the stellar occultations by Pluto (more, more). • Two more small moons of Jupiter were announced recently. • The best visuals of the close visit of NEO 2011 MD were shown and linked to here already; more images from June 28 (and earlier), early June 27 (more, more, more), late June 26 (more, more) and late June 25 (more), some news coverage here, here, here, here, here and here (another contender for the worst headline; "asteroid grazes atmosphere" ...) and informative previews here, here and here.
• There is a new object on a comet-like orbit, but 2011 MM4 shows no activity, in contrast to C/2011 M1 (LINEAR). • More previews for Elenin and PANSTARRS (more). • Comet Garradd on June 29 and June 26 (more). • Further criticism of claims that solar activity is about to cease. • A growing gallery of NLC pictures; there was a great show in the U.K. this morning (in motion), also observed from another location (more, more, more); earlier reports from the U.K. on June 29, Canada on June 28 and Poland on June 26 and June 19. • Finally a fine green segment on the Sun - and a weird sky bubble seen from Hawaii on March 22 (another video): obviously linked to a rocket test, but the physics of the bubble remain mysterious.
Sky highlights in July (see here, here, here and here) consist mainly of a mediocre evening visibility of Mercury which has already begun, the coincidence of peri- and apogee of the Moon with 1st and last quarter and the occultation of a faint star by asteroid (52) Europa which can be observed in the U.S. • Some more reports also on the stellar occultations by Pluto (more, more). • Two more small moons of Jupiter were announced recently. • The best visuals of the close visit of NEO 2011 MD were shown and linked to here already; more images from June 28 (and earlier), early June 27 (more, more, more), late June 26 (more, more) and late June 25 (more), some news coverage here, here, here, here, here and here (another contender for the worst headline; "asteroid grazes atmosphere" ...) and informative previews here, here and here.
• There is a new object on a comet-like orbit, but 2011 MM4 shows no activity, in contrast to C/2011 M1 (LINEAR). • More previews for Elenin and PANSTARRS (more). • Comet Garradd on June 29 and June 26 (more). • Further criticism of claims that solar activity is about to cease. • A growing gallery of NLC pictures; there was a great show in the U.K. this morning (in motion), also observed from another location (more, more, more); earlier reports from the U.K. on June 29, Canada on June 28 and Poland on June 26 and June 19. • Finally a fine green segment on the Sun - and a weird sky bubble seen from Hawaii on March 22 (another video): obviously linked to a rocket test, but the physics of the bubble remain mysterious.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Tiny asteroid comes to visit Monday: closest approach to Earth surface 12,280 km
According to the latest calculation with JPL's Horizons ephemeris machine it will be Monday, June 27, at precisely 17:00 UTC ± a few minutes when asteroid 2011 MD - with a diameter of a dozen meters or two, i.e. roughly house-sized - will pass closest to Earth: It will then be only 0.0001247 AU = 18,665 km from the planet's center or about 12,280 km from its surface. As the all-time list of closest approaches shows, this is by no means a record: at least three asteroids that got provisional numbers came even closer - and another one was discovered and then hit us (2008 TC3 of course). Our newest visitor will reach its closest Earth approach point in extreme southern latitudes (in fact over the southern Atlantic Ocean).
The incoming trajectory leg - some helpful animations from different points of view! - passes several thousand kilometers outside the geosynchronous ring of satellites and the outgoing leg passes well inside the ring. One would expect an object of this size - 5 to 20 meters, depending on the albedo - to come this close to Earth about every 6 years on average: a little video shows it moving in the sky this morning. There had been initial speculation that 2011 MD might be old space junk, but this seems practically excluded today. Some coverage here, here (earlier), here and here - and we have already an early contender for the most stupid headline: 5 to 20 meters diameter = "giant asteroid" ... :-)
In other planetary system news we have new data about and a fuzzy pic of centaur Echeclus in outburst, new Afrho data - what that means - from Elenin and an info page about PANSTARRS; there is still some confusion regarding its orbit. • A big bolide in TX & OK on June 20, and yours truly gets quoted re. the Draconids 2011 outlook. • An occultation of a star by Pluto was observed with SOFIA - central flash included - and from the ground, and there will be another one shortly. • A great amateur pic of Mercury showing e.g. the Caloris basin and a montage of Saturn's motion near Porrima.
From the total lunar eclipse 10 days ago report of successful observations with the LRO's DIVINER instrument, another gallery of amateur pictures (more, more and more collections; much more), a German review of what happened, a timelapse video and more selected reports and pictures from the Philippines (more), Nepal (more), India (more and more reports and more, more, more and more pictures), South Africa (a precise lightcurve!), Namibia, Greece (with thunderstorm; alt.; more, Hungary, Ireland, Spain, Austria (unusual timelapse movie; more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more and more pics & stories) and Germany (Donauwörth, Garching, Munich, Ulm and Stuttgart), plus a serious and a funny and another weird story on the TLE.
Elsewhere in the Universe a lightbridge in AR 1236 on the Sun where spots were published 400 years ago, a flare & CME on June 20 (video; it was again w/o Earth effects), how Chandra coped with the June 7 flare and yet another (alt.) and another space wx scare story. • The SN 2011dh in M 51 - now at ~12.3 mag. - on June 23 vs. 4 blinking and paired, a June 20 drawing, confusion about the progenitor and how to locate it. • NLCs from Stockholm on June 18 and sky color FX from a Chilean volcano. • An amateur imaging spysats (more). • And another attempt to end leap seconds.
The incoming trajectory leg - some helpful animations from different points of view! - passes several thousand kilometers outside the geosynchronous ring of satellites and the outgoing leg passes well inside the ring. One would expect an object of this size - 5 to 20 meters, depending on the albedo - to come this close to Earth about every 6 years on average: a little video shows it moving in the sky this morning. There had been initial speculation that 2011 MD might be old space junk, but this seems practically excluded today. Some coverage here, here (earlier), here and here - and we have already an early contender for the most stupid headline: 5 to 20 meters diameter = "giant asteroid" ... :-)
In other planetary system news we have new data about and a fuzzy pic of centaur Echeclus in outburst, new Afrho data - what that means - from Elenin and an info page about PANSTARRS; there is still some confusion regarding its orbit. • A big bolide in TX & OK on June 20, and yours truly gets quoted re. the Draconids 2011 outlook. • An occultation of a star by Pluto was observed with SOFIA - central flash included - and from the ground, and there will be another one shortly. • A great amateur pic of Mercury showing e.g. the Caloris basin and a montage of Saturn's motion near Porrima.
From the total lunar eclipse 10 days ago report of successful observations with the LRO's DIVINER instrument, another gallery of amateur pictures (more, more and more collections; much more), a German review of what happened, a timelapse video and more selected reports and pictures from the Philippines (more), Nepal (more), India (more and more reports and more, more, more and more pictures), South Africa (a precise lightcurve!), Namibia, Greece (with thunderstorm; alt.; more, Hungary, Ireland, Spain, Austria (unusual timelapse movie; more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more and more pics & stories) and Germany (Donauwörth, Garching, Munich, Ulm and Stuttgart), plus a serious and a funny and another weird story on the TLE.
Elsewhere in the Universe a lightbridge in AR 1236 on the Sun where spots were published 400 years ago, a flare & CME on June 20 (video; it was again w/o Earth effects), how Chandra coped with the June 7 flare and yet another (alt.) and another space wx scare story. • The SN 2011dh in M 51 - now at ~12.3 mag. - on June 23 vs. 4 blinking and paired, a June 20 drawing, confusion about the progenitor and how to locate it. • NLCs from Stockholm on June 18 and sky color FX from a Chilean volcano. • An amateur imaging spysats (more). • And another attempt to end leap seconds.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Deep total lunar eclipse enjoyed from Oceania to Europe
Tons of reports and gorgeous pictures have already come in from many countries, stretching in longitude from Portugal to New Caledonia: There the lunar eclipse of June 15/16 began at dawn while in western Europe it ended at dusk; only in western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and parts of Africa the complete show could be enjoyed. One way to beat geometry was to follow the eclipse via webcasts of which the one arranged by SLOOH and Google delivered best. This page links to numerous images and reports and fine galleries can be found here, here, here, here = here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Selected pictures from New Caledonia, Australia (gorgeous wide-angle view; more, more, more, more, more and more), South Korea, India (more, more and more), Armenia, Iran (more), Turkey (more), Croatia, Rhodos, Greece (more, more, more and more), Italy (more), Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Austria (continued; more, more, more and more) and the UK (no luck).
In Germany the eclipse was right 'on the edge' and visibility of totality depended strongly on your location, let alone the weather conditions. Some reports and image impressions from near Donauwörth (story), Ulm, Irschenberg, Weikersheim (scroll down), Münster, Freising, Leonding, Wasserkuppe, Munich, Vogtland, Plochingen, near Heidelberg, Bonn (little to see; story), Finsterwalde (no pictures) and Stuttgart (nothing; more). Some stories about the eclipse can be found here, here, here, hier and hier (alt.). There were also plans to use the LRO for temperature measurements at high resolution during the eclipse, and a paper just came out on the impact of the Kasatochi eruption on the Moon's illumination during the August 2008 lunar eclipse. Finally a moderately funny German satire about the eclipse and complete nonsense, also here and here ...• Nice pictures of the preceding solar eclipse in Lapland - and a paper on the TSE 10 years ago in Zambia.
In other solar system news another mutual event of Haumea & Namaka was observed and tweeted live from La Palma - the dip was shallower than expected and the live-tweeting of science made news of its own. • There is a new orbit for comet PANSTARRS (scroll down) which would improve visibility even more; since the IfA and the Pan-STARRS project are talking, the comet's got some press here, here, here, here and here. Let's just wait for the orbital calculations to stabilize; meanwhile C/2009 P1 (Garradd) could be fun.
Regarding the Sun, a prediction of low solar activity in cycles 24 and esp. 25 - immediately attacked, BTW - has caused a lot of reporting, e.g. here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, hier, hier, hier and here. • Other solar news addressed the impact of minima (alt.) and solar waves (related paper & story) and ropes; also Proba 2 saw the June 7 eruption (that had no effects on Earth whatsoever) and STEREO the farside of the Sun, plus a long and a short story on solar activity in general.
In deep space the supernova 2011dh in M 51 has brightened to about 12.7 mag.! A picture of June 7 and a paper and another one and a report and another one on the progenitor. • Finally a possible nebula discovery by an amateur astronomer - and NLCs during the lunar eclipse spotted in Austria of all places.
In Germany the eclipse was right 'on the edge' and visibility of totality depended strongly on your location, let alone the weather conditions. Some reports and image impressions from near Donauwörth (story), Ulm, Irschenberg, Weikersheim (scroll down), Münster, Freising, Leonding, Wasserkuppe, Munich, Vogtland, Plochingen, near Heidelberg, Bonn (little to see; story), Finsterwalde (no pictures) and Stuttgart (nothing; more). Some stories about the eclipse can be found here, here, here, hier and hier (alt.). There were also plans to use the LRO for temperature measurements at high resolution during the eclipse, and a paper just came out on the impact of the Kasatochi eruption on the Moon's illumination during the August 2008 lunar eclipse. Finally a moderately funny German satire about the eclipse and complete nonsense, also here and here ...• Nice pictures of the preceding solar eclipse in Lapland - and a paper on the TSE 10 years ago in Zambia.
In other solar system news another mutual event of Haumea & Namaka was observed and tweeted live from La Palma - the dip was shallower than expected and the live-tweeting of science made news of its own. • There is a new orbit for comet PANSTARRS (scroll down) which would improve visibility even more; since the IfA and the Pan-STARRS project are talking, the comet's got some press here, here, here, here and here. Let's just wait for the orbital calculations to stabilize; meanwhile C/2009 P1 (Garradd) could be fun.
Regarding the Sun, a prediction of low solar activity in cycles 24 and esp. 25 - immediately attacked, BTW - has caused a lot of reporting, e.g. here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, hier, hier, hier and here. • Other solar news addressed the impact of minima (alt.) and solar waves (related paper & story) and ropes; also Proba 2 saw the June 7 eruption (that had no effects on Earth whatsoever) and STEREO the farside of the Sun, plus a long and a short story on solar activity in general.
In deep space the supernova 2011dh in M 51 has brightened to about 12.7 mag.! A picture of June 7 and a paper and another one and a report and another one on the progenitor. • Finally a possible nebula discovery by an amateur astronomer - and NLCs during the lunar eclipse spotted in Austria of all places.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
There could be a bright comet in the sky ... in April 2013
This is just a pre-pre-warning with many caveats ... but if the first orbit for newly discovered comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) holds, it could put on quite a show when the visitor reaches a perihelion of only 1/3 AU in April 2013. A first visibility analysis by this blogger sees the comet very close to the horizon in the Northern hemisphere just after perihelion - when it may reach 2nd or 1st magnitude or even better - while it's better visible in the weeks before and right up to perihelion in the Southern hemisphere. Once the orbit stabilizes, these calculations will be repated in greater detail, and then it's up to the comet's brightness to perform. If it does work out as the standard formula implies, you read it here first ... • In other comet news the state of Elenin (and one more anti-BS article), new comet C/2011 L3 (McNaught) and continuing observations of the outburst of 174P/Echeclus. • On June 15 a faint asteroid will visit a bright star in Leo, and 2009 BD is feeling radiation pressure. • Opinion about the 2011 Draconids is still wildly split: Will there be hardly any meteors or 600 per hour or 1000 per hour ...?
Regarding larger bodies in the solar system the next Transit of Venus is (less than) a year away now, spawning this website and outreach ideas. • A close-up of Saturn & Porrima and another view with some Chronian satellites, too. • More previews of the June 15 total lunar eclipse here, here, here and here - and remember my old advice for the optimum experience! • Pictures of the June 3 lunar crescent here, here, here and here. • From the Midnight Eclipse the best movie (almost hypnotic ...), another one, one from Proba-2 and more coverage and image collections here, here, here, here, also great pictures from Norway (more) and Iceland. • A big solar eruption on June 7 (more and more animations and coverage here, here and here) led to some expectations for the Earth (see also here, here, here, here and here for some hysteria) that didn't materialize (see also here, here and here): Better look here first (and the U.N. will save us anyway :-). • Also the Sun on May 31, some wave phenomena and spectroscopy - and more details about Nova Sco.
The supernova 2011dh in Messier 51 is at about 13.4 mag. in the visíble right now as collected pictures & photometry and esp. visual estimates show. We have a gallery, calls by the Weizmann Inst. and Palomar Obs. for yet more (early) pictures of this apparent type IIb SN and selected pictures of June 7 (more), June 6 and June 3 (explained; more, more and more). As it has turned out this blogger played a role in the obtaining of the first-ever spectrum of the SN (also 'discussed' here and in the tweets here, here and here). There is a potential identification of the SN progenitor (easily visible in a public HST image of M 51), and the SN was seen in X-rays, by Swift's UVOT and in radio. Finally some more general coverage of the SN 2011dh here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. • Finally a cool video with NLCs and aurora shot June 4 in Minnesota - and extremely detailled pics of the ISS & OV-105, also hailed here.
Regarding larger bodies in the solar system the next Transit of Venus is (less than) a year away now, spawning this website and outreach ideas. • A close-up of Saturn & Porrima and another view with some Chronian satellites, too. • More previews of the June 15 total lunar eclipse here, here, here and here - and remember my old advice for the optimum experience! • Pictures of the June 3 lunar crescent here, here, here and here. • From the Midnight Eclipse the best movie (almost hypnotic ...), another one, one from Proba-2 and more coverage and image collections here, here, here, here, also great pictures from Norway (more) and Iceland. • A big solar eruption on June 7 (more and more animations and coverage here, here and here) led to some expectations for the Earth (see also here, here, here, here and here for some hysteria) that didn't materialize (see also here, here and here): Better look here first (and the U.N. will save us anyway :-). • Also the Sun on May 31, some wave phenomena and spectroscopy - and more details about Nova Sco.
The supernova 2011dh in Messier 51 is at about 13.4 mag. in the visíble right now as collected pictures & photometry and esp. visual estimates show. We have a gallery, calls by the Weizmann Inst. and Palomar Obs. for yet more (early) pictures of this apparent type IIb SN and selected pictures of June 7 (more), June 6 and June 3 (explained; more, more and more). As it has turned out this blogger played a role in the obtaining of the first-ever spectrum of the SN (also 'discussed' here and in the tweets here, here and here). There is a potential identification of the SN progenitor (easily visible in a public HST image of M 51), and the SN was seen in X-rays, by Swift's UVOT and in radio. Finally some more general coverage of the SN 2011dh here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. • Finally a cool video with NLCs and aurora shot June 4 in Minnesota - and extremely detailled pics of the ISS & OV-105, also hailed here.
Friday, June 3, 2011
13th mag. supernova in famous Whirlpool galaxy M 51 - widely observed before even official ...
Normally there is an IAU Circular, spawning alerts through various astronomy news services, leading to observations - but with a supernova discovered in the night June 1/2 in the famous galaxy Messier 51 it was very different. As this blog 'goes to print' object "PSN J13303600+4706330" still hasn't been announced officially as a supernova, yet the web is full of great pictures and other data, including spectral information confirming a type II SN. There are early confirming pictures here, here (triggered by yours truly last night and spreading quickly), here, here (in the order in which I learned of them) and several here. Apparently the supernova was already there on May 31 but seems to be absent on May 30; here is also the regular view of M 51. • There is also a new Nova Scorpii, also discussed here (picture). • Epsilon Aurigae is almost back & in conjunction with the Sun now. • The H-Alpha Sun today, prominences on May 25 and ideas regarding dark sunspots.
The "midnight solar eclipse" was widely observed in northern Europe and also in Russia and N America: more previews here, here and here, pictures from Russia here and here, from Finland here (with sunspots!), here and here, from Sweden here and here, from Norway here, here and here, from Iceland here, here, here and here (later) and from Alaska here - picture collections can also be found here, here, here, here (related article) and here. • The 1-day Moon after the eclipse was imaged in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. • More previews of the June 15 lunar eclipse here, hier and hier. • The color of the full moon enhanced. • Saturn at Porrima.
The morning planets and the Moon on May 31 from Poland, May 30 from Argentina, May 29 (and other dates) from South Africa and May 28 from California and Australia. • Centaur 174P/Echeclus in outburst, and image of 2009 P1 (Garradd) (which should be bright next year), new comets P/2011 JB15 (Spacewatch-Boattini) and C/2011 K1 (Schwartz-Holvorcen), Elenin still faint and still orbited by idiots - and anoth comet plunging into the Sun Mai 21st. • A fly-by by 2009 BD and a bolide in Georgia on May 20. • A little audio introduction to NLCs. • And glorious pictures by D. Caxete of the ISS & Endeavour in front of the Sun, plus some trails of the two later - and a video of the reentry over Yucatan.
The "midnight solar eclipse" was widely observed in northern Europe and also in Russia and N America: more previews here, here and here, pictures from Russia here and here, from Finland here (with sunspots!), here and here, from Sweden here and here, from Norway here, here and here, from Iceland here, here, here and here (later) and from Alaska here - picture collections can also be found here, here, here, here (related article) and here. • The 1-day Moon after the eclipse was imaged in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. • More previews of the June 15 lunar eclipse here, hier and hier. • The color of the full moon enhanced. • Saturn at Porrima.
The morning planets and the Moon on May 31 from Poland, May 30 from Argentina, May 29 (and other dates) from South Africa and May 28 from California and Australia. • Centaur 174P/Echeclus in outburst, and image of 2009 P1 (Garradd) (which should be bright next year), new comets P/2011 JB15 (Spacewatch-Boattini) and C/2011 K1 (Schwartz-Holvorcen), Elenin still faint and still orbited by idiots - and anoth comet plunging into the Sun Mai 21st. • A fly-by by 2009 BD and a bolide in Georgia on May 20. • A little audio introduction to NLCs. • And glorious pictures by D. Caxete of the ISS & Endeavour in front of the Sun, plus some trails of the two later - and a video of the reentry over Yucatan.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
June 2011: three eclipses - 2 partial solar, 1 total lunar - in one month!
This triple eclipse headline is literally true for the Eastern Pacific, where June begins and ends with partial solar eclipse (for the remainder of the planet and UTC the 2nd solar eclipse falls on July 1st already and hardly anyone will see it in any case). These - and a few other - highlights of this month:
In other news unusual views of the Moon: in polarized light, used as a diffracting edge, in extreme libration and with impacts by 3 Eta Aquarids and one Quadrantid (some background on this kind of observation here and here). • Images of poor comet Elenin of May 24 and May 16 and what the future may bring (and what not). There are also a new comet C/2011 J3 (LINEAR) (more) - and pre-discovery observations (and non-observations) of C/2010 A2 (LINEAR). • Some bizarre (non-)impact stories: another megacryometeor mystery and weird circumstances of the Dryas (more) and Chiemgau non-impacts.
• From the Sun May prominences (from every day from May 19 ... 26), the May 25 full Sun in H-Alpha and a May 9/10 CME movie, aurora over Tasmania on May 28, plus preventing space storm damage on Earth - and a weird scene from an art exhibition (headline - not connected to the pic - NSFW) ... • A star's proper motion in 110 years documented. • The first NLC sightings of the year are in; see also here. • Some post-processing of ESO movies showing Paranal rotating in a fixed Universe. • A rare timelapse movie of geostationary (or rather not so stationary!) satellites. • An Endeavour water dump (more). • And the ISS & Endeavour in front of the Sun with veeery high and not quite so high resolution (one more) - this low-res movie shows how fleeting these 'transits' are.
- June 2/1 (because the Int'l Date Line is crossed): Partial solar eclipse in the far North, with the greatest magnitude (mag. 0.6) in Russia.
- June 14: Saturn just 1/4° from bright star Porrima; the two are forming a nice 'double star' already now!
- June 15/16: Total eclipse of the Moon, best seen from E & S Africa and W Asia (websites from RSA, Pakistan and India) but also a little bit at the end from Central Europe.
- June 28: Dwarf planet Pluto in opposition at 14th mag. in 31 AU distance.
- July 1: Partial solar eclipse just off Antarctica - and nowhere else. D'uh!
In other news unusual views of the Moon: in polarized light, used as a diffracting edge, in extreme libration and with impacts by 3 Eta Aquarids and one Quadrantid (some background on this kind of observation here and here). • Images of poor comet Elenin of May 24 and May 16 and what the future may bring (and what not). There are also a new comet C/2011 J3 (LINEAR) (more) - and pre-discovery observations (and non-observations) of C/2010 A2 (LINEAR). • Some bizarre (non-)impact stories: another megacryometeor mystery and weird circumstances of the Dryas (more) and Chiemgau non-impacts.
• From the Sun May prominences (from every day from May 19 ... 26), the May 25 full Sun in H-Alpha and a May 9/10 CME movie, aurora over Tasmania on May 28, plus preventing space storm damage on Earth - and a weird scene from an art exhibition (headline - not connected to the pic - NSFW) ... • A star's proper motion in 110 years documented. • The first NLC sightings of the year are in; see also here. • Some post-processing of ESO movies showing Paranal rotating in a fixed Universe. • A rare timelapse movie of geostationary (or rather not so stationary!) satellites. • An Endeavour water dump (more). • And the ISS & Endeavour in front of the Sun with veeery high and not quite so high resolution (one more) - this low-res movie shows how fleeting these 'transits' are.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Planet show continued: the Venus/Jupiter/Mercury trio
As they say: "The cosmic ballet goes on," with the morning planets moving into new shapes every day. Further impressions - now with a Venus/Jupiter/Mercury triangle - of May 15 from Australia (scroll down), of May 14 from South Africa, Malaysia and the Philippines, of May 13 from South Africa and Australia (more, more [details], more), of May 12 from the U.S. (more, more), Canada, Poland (at 50° North!), Israel, Iran and Australia (more, cloudy) and of May 11 from Uruguay, Canada, the U.S., the Canary Islands, Spain, Italy, Austria, Poland, Israel, Indonesia and Australia. • Plus a rare drawing of Saturn from May 12.
In other news new faint comets C/2011 J2 and C/2011 H1, plus the demise of the latest SOHO comet (also an animation [bottom]; more, more). • Dubious stories about a meteor bang w/o a meteor and a meteorite crater w/o a meteorite (more). • A paper on the high solar activity in Nov. 2003 and a new warning system from Germany. • Pictures of SN 2011by of May 12 (another close-up), May 7 and May 4 - while T Pyx is near its peak now. • The ISS on the Sun. • More coverage of the new big sky mosaic (final graf) here, here, here and here - and all three mosaics in direct comparision. • And how amateur astronomy has benefited from the unrelenting advance of technology.
In other news new faint comets C/2011 J2 and C/2011 H1, plus the demise of the latest SOHO comet (also an animation [bottom]; more, more). • Dubious stories about a meteor bang w/o a meteor and a meteorite crater w/o a meteorite (more). • A paper on the high solar activity in Nov. 2003 and a new warning system from Germany. • Pictures of SN 2011by of May 12 (another close-up), May 7 and May 4 - while T Pyx is near its peak now. • The ISS on the Sun. • More coverage of the new big sky mosaic (final graf) here, here, here and here - and all three mosaics in direct comparision. • And how amateur astronomy has benefited from the unrelenting advance of technology.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Great morning planets show seen around the clock around the world
The line-ups & conjunctions of four naked-eye planets just west of the Sun - see also here, here, here, here, here, here and here plus an animation; a close Venus/Jupiter conjunction on May 11 & 12 is the next highlight - have been a great show in Southern and extremely tough to see in mid-Northern latitudes. Here are impressions of May 9 from Argentina, California and Australia, of May 8 from Austria, Jordan, Turkey and Australia (again), of May 7 from Chile, Italy, Austria (daytime close-ups!) and Tasmania, of May 6 from the U.S. and Austria, of May 5 from Argentina and Australia, of May 4 from Australia, of May 3 from Australia, of May 2 from Chile, of May 1 from Chile (cropped), the U.K., Australia (again and again) and the Philippines, of April 30 from Florida and Venezuela and of April 29 from New Zealand.
In small bodies news a big paper on how to get asteroid shapes from lightcurves and stellar occultations, the funny lightcurve of 2010 TU5, another 2005 YU55 press release (picked up here and here) and a long German story on NEO defense. • In Poland a meteorite hit a house (more, more and more) and a new mineral - named krotite - has been found in a meteorite. • There is a 3rd mag. Kreutz comet in this May 10 SOHO image at 7 o'clock (earlier today), comet Elenin on May 4, May 3 (more) and more dates, with absurdly high, optimistic and pessimistic predictions around, and new comet websites with hot visual estimates and Argentinian pictures.
In other news The H-Alpha Sun on May 3 and a geostorm on April 30. • T Pyxidis might be fading after brightening (another report). • SN 2011by has risen to 12.3 mag. as many confirm. • Eps Aurigae is now in egress with the eclipse soon over - and a lot of science results left behind. • Two more fine sky timelapse movies from the Canary Islands and Greece. • Close-ups of NanoSail D here and here, a Brasilian reentry video, explained here and here (more and more on the satellite), a Russian sky show after a launch, explained here and hier - and a close-up of USA 129, a U.S. spysat.
In small bodies news a big paper on how to get asteroid shapes from lightcurves and stellar occultations, the funny lightcurve of 2010 TU5, another 2005 YU55 press release (picked up here and here) and a long German story on NEO defense. • In Poland a meteorite hit a house (more, more and more) and a new mineral - named krotite - has been found in a meteorite. • There is a 3rd mag. Kreutz comet in this May 10 SOHO image at 7 o'clock (earlier today), comet Elenin on May 4, May 3 (more) and more dates, with absurdly high, optimistic and pessimistic predictions around, and new comet websites with hot visual estimates and Argentinian pictures.
In other news The H-Alpha Sun on May 3 and a geostorm on April 30. • T Pyxidis might be fading after brightening (another report). • SN 2011by has risen to 12.3 mag. as many confirm. • Eps Aurigae is now in egress with the eclipse soon over - and a lot of science results left behind. • Two more fine sky timelapse movies from the Canary Islands and Greece. • Close-ups of NanoSail D here and here, a Brasilian reentry video, explained here and here (more and more on the satellite), a Russian sky show after a launch, explained here and hier - and a close-up of USA 129, a U.S. spysat.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Four planets (and the Moon) in action in the May morning sky - and a nice supernova!
While the play of the planets - Mercury, Venus, Mars & Jupiter - is best seen from moderate Northern and esp. Southern latitudes, the supernova in the Big Dipper is ideally placed for Northerners. It was discovered very early, at 14th magnitude, and could rise to 12th - which would be pretty rare - during the coming week. Of all planets still only Saturn (a nice April 19 pic and several of the ongoing storm) is easily seen from everywhere, while the other four naked eye planets are so close to and west of the Sun that you need a either a steep ecliptic (like in this Australian view from April 26) or binoculars to see them and esp. the various conjunctions of between them, listed below. Some key dates:
- April 30 & May 1: The waning crescent Moon joins the morning planet line-up - simulated April 30 sky views for Australia and later California and the view on May 1 for Germany. On May 1 Mars is 21' north of Jupiter.
- Around May 3: Possible 12 mag. peak of Supernova 2011by in NGC 3972 in UMa; here are the Chinese discovery picture and a color view.
- May 6: Peak of the Eta Aquarids, like the planet show something great only for Southern observers.
- May 8: Mercury 1.5° south of Venus.
- May 11: Mercury 2° south of Jupiter and Venus 34' south of Jupiter (thus a planet trio).
- May 18: Mercury 1.3° south of Venus.
- May 21: Mercury 2° south of Mars.
- May 23: Venus 1° south of Mars (another planet trio, with Mercury).
- May 31: The Moon is once more close to the morning planets.
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