Lunation 1063: 28th Nov 2008 - 27th Dec 2008
Biggest full moon? Rain and cloud here ...
| Space Weather News for Dec. 12, 2008 http://spaceweather.com WEEKEND METEORS: Earth is entering a stream of debris from extinct comet 3200 Phaethon, and this is causing the annual Geminid meteor shower. The shower is expected to peak on Dec. 13th and 14th. Normally, as many as 100 meteors per hour shoot out of the constellation Gemini, but this year a bright Moon will interfere with the display, reducing hourly counts to only 20 or so. That's could still be a nice show. For best results, watch the sky from 10 pm local time on Saturday night (Dec 13th) until dawn on Sunday morning (Dec. 14th). BIGGEST FULL MOON OF THE YEAR: The Moon that's causing trouble for the Geminid display happens to be biggest full Moon of 2008, as much as 14% wider and 30% brighter than lesser Moons we've seen earlier this year. An astronomer would say this is a "perigee Moon" because it occurs at perigee, the side of the Moon's elliptical orbit closest to Earth. Go outside tonight and take a look. The meteor rate may be low, but the lunar beauty index is off the charts. |
Here's the December Australian 'Smiley' from Brisbane - looking West around 8pm Oz-time
Photograph Dec 1st around 8 pm by Ian Lythgoe with 3m 3x zoom camera - thanks Ian!!
December 5th 2008 - First Quarter
From SPA newletter:
VIEWING THE ISS TOOLBAG |
December 2nd 2008
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| Clouds again and snow for 4-day moon!! |
Occultation of Venus by 3-day Moon on December 1st 2008
LIVE WEBCAST OF OCCULTATION OF
VENUS 2008 DECEMBER 1 |
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| Cloud over the interesting bits when Venus went behind the Moon - even thicker when she emerged at about 17:12 UT . Fuzzy, but Venus was bright and the Lumix found them just before the clouds closed back in. No sign of Jupiter. |
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| Above - around time Venus disappeared - clouds misbehaving Below - scenes from Peter Grego's webcast in Cornwall |
Above - last sighting of moon and Venus as the clouds thicken again ~1713UT. (pic with Lumix on zoom) Below - lovely clear scene from Peter's webcast in Cornwall |
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| Photo by Chris Bailey through a Bresser Skylux |
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| Meanwhile, upside-down in Brisbane, around 8pm, looking West, was the Smiley - Venus to the right with Jupiter with the young crescent moon. Photo by Ian Lythgoe with 3m 3x camera- thanks Ian 8-) |
28th November 2008
Jupiter and Venus as the sun goes down. Watch over the next few sundowns, the crescent moon should join in
Lunation 1062: 28th Oct - 27th Nov 2008
16th November 2008
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| Jupiter and Venus getting closer together ... |
15th November 2008 - 17 day moon
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| Rising early in the north east | in the trees ... |
14th November 2008 - 16 day moon
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| 16 day moon - Lumix on zoom |
more Bresser pics soon ...when recovered ... 8-( some more on Bresser page
7th November 2008 - 8 day moon
| Sky cleared early on, moon still dodging trees (see darker shadows!) took the Bresser Skylux out to have a look. This pic via Bresser with Ricoh Caplio RR730 handheld at eyepiece. Air shimmery as looking over roof but clear views of the terminator. |
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| Stacked video with Mare Imbrium, Plato and Copernicus (via Bresser) | Moon still low and in warm currents from roof, out of trees but heading for chimney | Southern highlands - stacked video (via Bresser) |
3rd November 2008 - 5 day moon and Jupiter
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| Sun sets - here's Jupiter and the 5 day moon low in the SW |
Lunation 1061: 29th Sept - 27th Oct 2008
Wow - some clear(ish) skies and stars to end with
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The North East sky - light polluted as ever, but full of stars. Perseus was brilliant, both clusters around P Just missed pic of Andromeda - follow Arrow to A, very bright. This photo with LUMIX on tripod Around 20:30 UT. Find Mirach and follow next graphic (from Starry Night software, excellent) |
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No colours in small telescopes ... and might come up as white fuzzy |
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| Always good viewing in binoculars or small 'scopes - the Seven Sisters (Pleiades) and Hyades cluster with red Aldebaran. Photo with LUMIX on tripod, 30 secs on Starry Sky setting. Light pollution!! |
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| Worse light pollution from main road lights in the West but still two good constellations to look at. The triangle made by Vega with the double double stars above and a Lyra star is easy to find. Centre on the Double-double and see if you can see that each of these stars are also double (will need better skies than these!) Also in Lyra, though faint in small 'scopes, is the Ring Nebula R. And the best of all, the beautiful double stars of Albireo in constellation Cygnus - both different colours, even in binoculars given reasonable skies. This photo taken with LUMIX on tripod, 30 secs Starry Sky, around 20:30 UT |
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| And in the early hours - the welcome sight of Saturn below Leo - about 05:00 - in the east. Hadn't scope or tripod with me so this again is a graphic from Starry Night software to show the position. Rings are more closed now, but bright yellow planet shows up even in Bresser 10x50 binoculars |
12th October 2008 - 12 day moon - Celestron out briefly!!
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12 day moon - stacked video from Ricoh via C8 |
Moon still low but just high enough to be seen from the Backyard |
Fuzzy stacked video with Lumix via |
7th October 2008
| No - Not the Moon but
Mercury from NASA's Messenger
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington |
| NASA Science News for October 7, 2008 Yesterday, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft flew past Mercury, capturing high-resolution images of the innermost planet's previously unseen landscape. Amazing first photos are arriving at Earth now. FULL STORY at : http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/07oct_firstresults.htm?list110882 |
5th October 2008 - 5 day moon
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| Low moon on 5th October | 5 day moon |
3rd October 2008 - 3 day moon????
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| Clouds (again) on the 3rd October at sunset |
Lunation 1060: 30th Aug - 28th Sept 2008
| Space Weather News for Sept. 12, 2008 http://spaceweather.com HARVEST MOON: This weekend's full Moon has a special name--the Harvest Moon. It's the full Moon closest to the northern autumnal equinox. In years past, farmers depended on the light of the Harvest Moon to gather ripening crops late into the night. Post-Edison, we appreciate it mainly for its beauty. Be alert in the nights ahead for Harvest Moon halos, coronas and 'dogs. Visit http://spaceweather.com for example and more information. AURORA WATCH: Around the Arctic Circle, moonlight will compete with Northern Lights. A solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole on the sun is due to hit Earth on Sept. 13th or 14th, possibly sparking high-latitude geomagnetic storms. Sky watchers from Alaska to Scandinavia should be alert for auroras. September 2008 Aurora Gallery: http://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01sep08.htm |
Sept 13th 2008 - 13 day moon and the TAL 1 in 7 minutes
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| Spotted the 13 day moon was clear of the rooftops and in clear sky!! First time it had appeared to be viewable by scope from the Backyard since February for any legnth of time! Grabbed the TAL 1 and Ricoh | It ended in about 7 minutes when it was a race between the trees, garage roof and the clouds to see which could blank out the moon - (clouds won for some time, but there were clear skies later for a while!!) |
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| Reasonable views of the western craters - here Inghirami in SW - but there was no time for the TAL to cool down so some fuzziness ... | Further north Riccioli was on the terminator edge - (quick video with Ricoh, stacked simply with Registax) |
Sept 9th 2008 - sunset and 9 day moon
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| Red clouds in the sunset ... | 9 day moon in the trees - so no lunar observing tonight then! |
Sept 3rd 2008 - stars ... and 3 day moon
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| Doesn't do justice to the brilliant colours in Orion ... | The Twins ... around 4.45am BST | That evening, through the rain, the 3 day moon just diving for cover!! |
Sept 2nd 2008
Through a glass darkly - must clean those windows!
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| Around 4 am BST - jewel-like winter stars sparkled! | But ... the cloud bank was already racing in! |
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| Auriga - Capella and the kids ... and the cloud | V of the Bull's head with Aldeberan |
August 31st 2008 - day 1
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| Second New Moon this August nearly 1 day old ... 3
planets gather at sundown (Starry Night graphic) |
Looking west at sunset, beautiful sky but plenty cloud
cover :-( Fingers crossed for some Clear Skies! |
| Space Weather News for Aug 31, 2008 http://spaceweather.com Sky watchers across the USA and Europe are reporting unusually colorful sunsets and sunrises. The cause appears to be the August 7th eruption of the Kasatochi volcano in Alaska's Aleutian islands. The volcano hurled a massive cloud of ash and sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere; high winds have since carried the aerosols over parts of the USA and Europe. "Violet domes," long pink rays crossing the sky, campfire-red aureoles around Venus--these are just a few of the sights documented on Spaceweather.com in recent days. When the sun goes down tonight, look west. You may be in for a treat. Ongoing coverage of the phenomenon may be found at http://spaceweather.com . |
All photos are copyright Škjcstudios and may not be used without permission
