Let me know how that works for you pweese ! I got complaints that the green color was not liked. some said not nice to the eye or cartoony( after reading that I agree) My blog but my readers input's are always appreciated and taken friendly :)
Nov 8, 2009
My Blog Links Are Now Blue
Eris The Asteroid Watch Alert !
Okay So it's a dwarf planet actually, but it got your attention didn't it !I was updating my astronomer's software while getting ready for my astronomer's meeting in webcam tonight & saw that Eris is out there, gotta share the exciting info SEE ERIS TONIGHT ! It is southwest just above Theta Ceti, a star in the star constellation Cetus the sea monster. After midnight will be prime for locating Eris. Depending of you like me have trees in that area of the sky location. This map is for 1:38 AM November 8th but it will be in view till it sets on December 12th 1:38am from our view. but for the 36 people since October 17th I've helped pick out their telescope here's a great observing treat! with the 9 I helped yesterday ,There will be other cool objects that are coming. Get out tonight and enjoy the mini planet of the asteroid belt ! To help you locate it in your finderscope here is the latest area image from Jodrell. Eris will be a greenish blue color.
Astronomical Facts About Eris
Fun Facts About Eris
Eris is green which is unlike any other planet an very unusual. Eris is also the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System. It is approximately 2500 kilometers in diameter and 27% more massive than Pluto. Since it is so far away it take Eris about 558 years to orbit around to Sun. Eris was first spotted in 2003 by the Palomar Observatory-based team led by Mike Brown. If your a planet hunting buff like me you will like Mike Brown's Planet Hunting Blog ! I love reading it everyday. Always fantastic.
Nov 5, 2009
Planetary Alert ! Moon Visit's Mars & Saturn
November 9-15: The Moon swings past some bright company in the morning sky this week -- the planets Mars and Saturn, plus a star that's usually associated with warmer weather. That's right it's Regulus. Try to catch this impressive lineup. It will last quite a few mornings whereas most are only 1 o 3 days. For more Sky & Planetary happenings check the post below called 'November Sky Is Here & A Jupiter Treat. Lots of great stuff is out there in November , it's worth it to bundle up for a minute or two to take a peek. Click Skymap for bigger version.
November New Sights :
The bright, beautiful constellations of winter creep into prime viewing time during the longer, cooler nights of November. Beautiful Orion rises in mid-evening early in the month, but by early evening at month's end. Taurus, the bull, charges into view ahead of Orion, with Gemini, the twins, rising to the north of Orion. The Dog Star Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, follows the hunter in late evening. Venus, the "morning star," disappears in the dawn glare by month's end, but Mars is growing brighter as we head toward winter. As these constellations pop into view i'll have some good tours lined up for the cold weather observers.
Oct 30, 2009
November Sky Is HERE & A Jupiter Treat !!
Okay it's here & complete.....
Planets this month is all loaded up.You can find it here. More will come as events pop up. I have some stuff to add people are emailing me, thanks for sharing.Just to point out Mars will be back ! On the planets page you will find basic info but as it get's closer i'll have planet alerts. I know alot of my readers just read this page but you might want to check it out for planet action. Other events and cool telescope tours will be added as they come up. ATTENTION JUPITER MOON WATCHERS! to find the moon transits and eclipses of jupiter see the link above and click on Jupiter section.
I'll have Comets and an Asteroid to catch in your scope!!
- Meteor Showers page is updated. November 21st we'll see the Leonid Meteors roar again. More on that is coming too. I will have my blog really updated for sky tours and events, that is what I keep up with for myself to enjoy.
- The Jack Stargazer page is all loaded up and ready to blast off with Jack as your guide!! I'm glad people are enjoying them.If you enjoy space/astronomy video's try my Spaced Out page which I am currently working on adding new ones.
- My Astronomy & Space news has massively been updated today (november 5th) really amazing discoveries going on WOW !
What are you planning to explore in November?Also how does everyone like my new approach to writing sky tours for you? Any one use any? Just pondering :)
Oct 14, 2009
Pegasus Double Galaxy Clusters Tour
Us deep sky observers have travelled 2.5 million light years at the eyepiece to Andromeda galaxy and it's mini galactic companions m32 and m110. There's more galaxy clusters east of the great square of pegasus ( upper right hand corner) Saddle up for an amazing look at Stephan's Quintet.
Which is a group of five galaxies (NGC7317, 7318A, 7318B, 7319 and 7320. Then we will look through NGC 7731 and it's surrounding galaxies NGC7335 - NGC7337 -NGC7340. Lets's start with Stephan's Quintet. This tight gathering of five galaxies has a magnitude of 13.6. The largest and brightest, NGC 7320, is as easily found as the Andromeda Galaxy. You should be able to find the others pretty well that lies near it. 26 & 25mm eyepiece (depending on your scope size) should do the trick, throw in your Barlow Lens for a closer view.
Four notable galaxies (or galaxy clusters) are found in Pegasus. The brightest is magnitude 9.5 and has the curious name Deer Lick Group. Follow stars Scheat to Matar and then about 4 and a half degrees further and slightly north of the direction you were heading. This will bring you to the Deer Lick Group, NGC 7331. Here you'll find one large spiral galaxy and a spattering of smaller ones. Only a half degree south of the Deer Lick Group is the Stephen's Quintet. This tight gathering of five galaxies has a magnitude of 13.6. Above you I made a photo of what each galaxy cluster looks like for easy telescopic or binocular recognition. I mentioned below my next post was the galaxy clusters in Pegasus and 'MarsMan' a regular reader sent this to share in the post - thanks for sharing: French astronomer Edouard Stephan discovered this group in 1877. The five galaxies now carry the designations NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, NGC 7319, and NGC 7320.Four of these galaxies — the exception is NGC 7320 — form a compact galaxy group, the first ever discovered. NGC 7320 belongs to the Pegasus Spur, a group of about 3 dozen galaxies, the brightest of which is magnitude 9.5 NGC 7331. Although you can “see” Stephan’s Quintet through a 6-inch scope, 50x will show you only a clumpy glow 3' across. A 12-inch telescope, on the other hand, lets you identify the individual members. At the Quintet’s southwestern edge is NGC 7317, which lies next to a 13th-magnitude foreground star. The colliding pair NGC 7318A and NGC 7318B lies 2' to the east. You’ll need high magnification — above 200x — to separate them. The brightest and largest member, NGC 7320, lies to the southeast and contains a 13th-magnitude foreground star in its halo. This galaxy shines at magnitude 12.5. NGC 7319, which sits at the group’s northeastern edge, is the real test for visual observers and is the faintest galaxy in Stephan’s Quintet. It glows softly at magnitude 15.3.
If you have info to share in an upcoming post I mention you can share & I'll happily share. Let me know how your galactic tour went & what extra goodies did you find on the way. Whether in the comments or in email all will be added here in comments for all to discuss and enjoy.
Attention Comet Hunters -> Comet Alert !
An evening comet visible in small telescopes is a perfect spot to catch by the tail.This comet begins the month in Aquila at magnitude 9.3. Look for a 4.5' coma. It should fade by about 0.5 magnitudes by month's end. Here is a finder chart to print out to take under the night sky to find it. If you've found the duck cluster before that is in the same area you can find this comet fairly easy. it will be out all of October for you to seek out every night, Comet 2006 W3 was discovered on November 18, 2006 by E. J. Christensen with the Catalina Sky Survey. It has been corkscrewing its way along the northern Milky Way since then. A friend of mine observed this comet and told me " It was surprisingly bright in my 20" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob and sported a short tail. Greenish in color it should be an interesting view. then he added I observed Comet Christensen again on Wednesday and Thursday nights from Cherry Springs State Park through my 12.5" Starsplitter, a 17.5" Telekit, and a 20" Obsession. The coma was bright and irregularly shaped and there was a very noticeable fan-shaped tail." the comet is expected to fade rapidly. Catch it while you can! If you catch it with a photo or want to share your observations that would be fun. I'll post the photo on my blog along with your site if you have one..
Update : I have drawn up a trajectory map of the comet's path.
Coming Up Next :Pegasus Double Galaxy Clusters Tour
Oct 13, 2009
A Cup Of Night Sky
If you were to brew up some of the coolest star sights to enjoy, then this is the time. I stepped outside after some cloudy nights or so to be greeted by beautiful Pleiades in a great spot just above the bright orange star Aldebaron of Taurus. Which is popping up and just to bump it up a little Perseus is perfectly in the right spot to peruse. While your stepping out in a fresh winter sweater to get your scope ready brew up a cup of the night sky, it's getting chilly out there. Hot coffee is the perfect way to warm up so get that brewing too. Now that your getting toasty warm and your optics are ready, let's explore stars! Take a look at Perseus.. It's a classic October marker for some interesting sets of hot blue young stars. In particular Mirfak grasps onto a slew of stars all slightly smaller than itself but just about as bright.This area always get's explored by me every year, being a backyard observer still I am anxious to get at that area with my 12 inch SkyQuest dobsonian scope Ambrosia later tonight. The Mirfak area is also known as Alpha Persei Moving Cluster. At 580 light years away it's a stellar nursery so things are still settling down creating movement. Sometimes you can mark positions of these stars and months later notice their very subtle movement, this study usually is under Steller Kinomatiks area's of steller motions. Now lets get back to observing them instead of being tongue tied. As you move around the area with your scope you'll notice inumerable quanities of distant, tiny pinpoint area of stars. Throw on a barlow lens & take another gander at them. Beautiful area to explore isn't it. Oh do I hear an "oh boring I've explored them alot already" grunt from my experienced observers? Well how about hunting down NGC1333 then? This reflection nebula is often overlooked,check it out for yourself. It is a smaller version of the Orion nebula with a distance of 720 Light Years. For a couple more sights of Persues's heroic star line-up try the double cluster, slide your scope up halfway in between Cassiopeia & Perseus trust me you can't miss it. it's my favorite star cluster. I have many fun memories observing it on summer nights in August. Then dip your scope down and bump it to the right a little to find the classic collection of stars called Kemble's Cascade. Variety is the spice of this asterism with different colored stars making it an interesting stop on your stellar filled tour tonight. Often it's not explored because it's not easily seen by eye but it's great practice for beginners to fine tune their observing skills. Now lets pop down towards Taurus for an orange wonderful star for you to enjoy. Around 11 pm Aldebaron (or Alpha Tauri) will be higher than our atmosphere to view, for a crackling clear view around 1am it will be even crispy looking. Take a peek at the V shaped pattern of white stars of Hyades it's traveling with. As one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky,is a binary star system located around 65.1 light- years which is relatively close to Earth compared to Mirfak's 580 light years distance. The whole area is a great sight to look at, just mah-velous. How about letting the Pleiades dazzle you while taking a look at it's amazingly brilliant blue hot young stars through your eyepiece? My skyquest brings in some of the wispy nebula around Merope, one of the major stars in that constellation. first time I looked I was using my 25mm eyepiece & couldn't believe the luminosity of the star, then after throwing on my barlow lens gasping as I took a look into the scope. With my 8 inch dobsonian I was always enjoying it but newer saw the nebula so crispy clear. Averted vision works best here guys if you have a 6 - 8 inch, a 12 inch you can use the same method just the faint clump of it is more noticeable. This next month I am planning on buying this filter for my scope UltraBlock Narrowband Light-Pollution Filter It's another tool to help enhance the faint objects pop out more. You can use it to bump up your deep sky viewing by bringing out faint light, works great on comets & light pollution filter, can't wait to use it ! I am beaming because they include a manual to download ! Because so many times scopes & accessory manuals are forgotten, I get emails asking for help and usually find them.
My Kind Of Caffeinated Starlight
- no cream (clouds) lots of sugar (starlight) - I take mine the same as the best way to see deep sky goodies have to offer BLACK! Pure coffee with no cream or sugar. This time of year brings the start of chillly nights with a few nice breaks if the wind is still and you can't beat the crisp air making the stars shine on! This is the month where I used to get up at 4 am to catch glimpses of Orion before the sun stars to crack the night with beautiful dramatic sunrises if it's not too bone chilling cold. If you can keep yourself warm enough,the stars this time of year are met with enthusiasm and great expectations of glittery stars in our eyepieces and infuse our wonder about them! This was for my friend Orly , Who emailed me with " what good stuff is there in Perseus area to look at? I'd look it up myself but I enjoy your sky tours ! " I write it for all to enjoy.
I would like to hear about what you see when you observe the star tour I sent you on. Send your reports to me thru email or in the comments below, either way you choose all will posted in comments so all will enjoy.
Afternote: Wow some interesting questions are popping up in the comments. KOOL!
Oct 2, 2009
What Is your Astronomy Enjoyment ?
My Astronomy News is updated for those who like to keep up with space news. Two posts down I had written 3 Planet's To Catch October 3rd,4th & 5. I would like to know what pages you don't look at or click on at all. I already deleted my meteor watch page because there are no signs of people going there, I'm going to add a square to the right for meteor showers instead of a whole page. I have a pretty good Idea what my readers like to observe, but I would like to ask my readers:
You can help me get an idea of what people enjoy about astronomy, also to challange myself to write about it. If I know the types of observers i'm writing for or what astronomy stuff they enjoy I can get working on sharing info and events they can use and enjoy. I would like at least 20-30 answers to get a good idea before posting more on my blog. I have 9 COOL posts ready to publish !! Also I'm working on a new 2010 project for my blog(on it's own page) and observers & astronomy buffs. This will help that alot - your going too freak out on january 1st 2010! BIGTIME Thank you for taking the time to answer, SO SO APPRECIATED !
Sep 29, 2009
Inspiring Man Who's Great Happiness Is Sharing Astronomy
I found this video while seeing what new astronomy videos were orbiting YouTube and everytime I see David Levy talking his joy of astronomy I am inspired and feel good about sharing astronomy. This guy gets GEEKED OUT as you can tell when he mentions " Yeah !" after being asked by his wife( he mentions while pillowtalking? funny guy!) if he is still enjoying comet hunting after all these years. Sometimes I think his enthusiasm can almost power a booster rocket out into space for NASA, if he was all set up with a booster pack himself I think he would go into the stratosphere in a slit second. False sense of time there but you get my drift. I get a hoot out of he almost jumps into the air with his enthusiasm and when he wants to get a message across he makes himself very clear on that and seeks out to look in the camera and lean in to get his excitement out. You can see he is enjoying the questions. His pauses and interesting play on words. 3:26 in the video is my favorite part. The clock behind him shows it's late & that day was a long day of speaking & voice drying up quick but he still had gusto for one more round. As I watched this I got a better sense of his feeling of hey this is pretty fantastik! lets share it! view of astronomy.He's a fun guy to chat and email with. Online I know him & I've called him this before and he chuckled so here's to my favourite Astro-Geek.
What impact did David leave you with?
Sep 28, 2009
Triple Planets To Catch October 3rd !!
Saturn joins Mercury and Venus in the morning for a cool planetary show!
Early risers were spellbound once again as they watched dazzling bright Venus shine in the eastern morning sky this summer. Our sister planet is now sinking toward the horizon and the sun's glow. Before disappearing in November, Venus will have some company as Mercury and Saturn escort her out of the morning sky. Mercury is now in the middle of one of its best appearances in the morning sky this year. The "iron planet" rises in the east more than an hour before the sun and brightens a full magnitude to -- 0.7 the first week in October. Look for Mercury Saturday morning 45 minutes before sunrise, seven degrees below Venus.If you have a clear view of the eastern horizon Saturday morning, while you are viewing the two inner planets, you should notice that Saturn has now returned to the morning sky. The ring word sits only a few degrees directly above the eastern horizon and is the dimmest of the three morning stars. Then for a couple mornings more Saturn will visit Mercury on the 4th,then give Venus a hug on the 5th. would make a great set of photos I think! Even planets need hugs!
Planning on catching this show? Drop by with your observations & reports after. Also my readers are invited to email me your astro pics of your visit with this planetary trio. Looking forward to it.
OCTOBER 9TH- CATCH A LUNER PROBE SMACKING THE MOON WITH YOUR SCOPE
I found these while hunting for astronomy news.
NASA satellite to intentionally slam into moon October 9th
Impact on moon might not be out of sight
That will be a pretty friggin fantastik treat for your eyes !! Anyone catch film or pics or find videos online after it's crashed send it in! Wow excitied!
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