Astronomy events schedule

Labguy

Hey, guys. Keep the monthly summary above for all predictable events. But, here is a neat site to visit that shows the "latest" astronomical events before they can make it to any magazines, etc.

http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/RecentIAUCs.html

J-Man

Cool, thanks for the link.

(on a side-note: apparently, Poverty is located somewhere around Florida/Gulf of Mexico. That means I must be mistaken - I must be in SubPoverty. ;-) )

Labguy

Yes, Poverty is very far south in CONUS. Anything with a lower Latitude is in Sub-Poverty.

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Phobos

It's already the brightest I've ever seen it! Time to dust off my telescope. (been using mostly binocs lately)

Dagenais

Don't know if this has already been mentioned but on July 24:

1. Full Moon
2. Comet du Toit-Neujmin-Delporte Closest approach to Earth

Shadow

Yeah I cant wait to view mars, it's supposed to be spectacular. I was reading the Discover Magazine article and it hasn't been this bright in 5,000 years!

Phobos

Start looking now....don't wait for just the peak day (closest approach to Earth). It will still be great for weeks before & after the peak.

Dagenais

I'm still a beginning Astronomer, viewing that is. I can never find planets.

I have studied more in Cosmology.

Astronomy is more interesting though, at least from what I know.

Phobos

Astronomy is great...and the more you are familiar with the night sky, the more you will appreciate cosmology too.

Start with Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn....they're easy. Especially Mars over the next couple months...look east around 11:30 pm tonight...it's the brightest point of light in the sky and it should be noticeably red/orange.

Remember the planets will always be found along the ecliptic...an imaginary line across the sky...the same path the sun appears to follow...so that's basically an east to west arc. Once you know where the ecliptic is, the planets become much easier to find.

Check what time the planets rise/set on the night you observe (for example, Sky & Telescope's website gives such info...or this topic in PF). Get a sky map (available monthly in Astronomy or Sky&Telescope magazines or even downloadable free from the web).

Dagenais

Hmmm....


Maybe I can just go out, point myself east and look for a bright, red star.

Then I'll set-up my Telescope for viewing.

Phobos

A perfect start. In the telescope, Mars will look like a small disk (stars would still look like points). The real trick is trying to see any features on that disk.

Don't worry if the disk keeps sliding out of your telescope's view. That's just the rotation of the Earth, not a problem with your telescope. [:)]

Dagenais

Yeah, I know. I should set-up my finder scope tonight.

My mount makes it even harder to stay on target. Even the moon keeps on sliding out of view.

The mount is really bad, in fact, if you want to tighten the altitude part of the telescope to keep it in position (altizimuth mount), it is nearly impossible. The thing that you have to screw-in to keep the telescope from dropping down is really tough to tighten. [t)]

Zero

I'm looking forward to seeing Mars through my rifle scope...

J-Man

Skywatcher's Information for August 2003
========================================
Some information from www.space.com, www.astronomy.com
======================================================

Moon phases:
------------
Aug 5 - 1st Quarter
Aug 12 - Full Moon
Aug 19 - Last Quarter
Aug 27 - New Moon

Planets: (Planets Info originally by Larry Sessions from space.com, edited by J-Man.)
--------
-Mercury is in the evening sky but not particularly well placed for observing unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere.

-Venus conjuncts with the Sun on the 18th and hence is a no-show for August.

-Mars is still in the retrograde motion it started last month. It continues to brighten as the Earth approaches in an orbital race that brings the two closest together on the 27th. The Earth, being the faster-moving planet, passes Mars about every two years, two months. In such events, the Earth is between the Sun and Mars. But Mars also varies in distance from the Sun (as does the Earth, but to a much lesser extent). When it is closest to the Sun it is said to be in perihelion. Due to resonances between the orbits of Mars and Earth, the Red Planet passes especially near our world every 15-17 years. If this happens at the time of Martian perihelion, it is said to be a perihelic opposition. As it turns out, Mars has a perihelic opposition this year, on August 28. (the actual perihelion is on the 30th.) However, it is at its closest to Earth on the 27th. In fact, it is closer to Earth than it has been in tens of thousands of years! Of course it is still millions of miles away, actually just less than 34.65 million miles (55.76 million kilometers). But this approach promises the best views of Mars in small telescopes during your lifetime (and that of several generations of your descendents!)

-Jupiter is awash in the solar glare and cannot be seen. It is in conjunction with the Sun on August 22 and stays hidden until it re-emerges in the morning sky in September.

-Saturn, is now in the morning sky, among the stars of Gemini. It is well up in the east at sunrise, and makes a fine sight in a small telescope until sunlight interferes.


Day-by-day: (All times ET unless noted)
-----------
Tuesday, 8/4
-Neptune at opposition.

Tuesday, 8/5
-First Quarter Moon, 3:28 a.m.
Look for this Moon high in the southern sky at sunset on Monday and Tuesday, moving progressively farther eastward (higher and to the left) on each succeeding night.

Wednesday, 8/6
-Moon at perigee.

Monday, 8/11
-Neptune 5 degrees north of the moon.
-Perseid meteor shower starts. (You might be able to see a few on the 9th or 10th as well.)

Tuesday, 8/12
-Full Moon, 12:48 a.m.
Look for this late summer Moon in the east-southeast just as it begins to darken on Monday evening, or about a half hour later on Tuesday evening. The Harvest Moon arrives next month, but this Full Moon had names, too. In Colonial America it was sometimes called "Dog Day’s Moon," while the Cheyenne referred to it as the "Moon When Cherries Turn Ripe," and the Wisham People of Oregon and Washington called it "Blackberry Patches Moon" (Source: The Moon Book by Kim Long). Full Moon Fever
-Uranus 5 degrees north of the moon.
-Perseid Meteor Shower building up.

Wednesday, 8/13
-Perseid Meteor Shower, 1 a.m.
The days leading up to the peak will offer better viewing, because unfortunately the Full Moon will pretty much ruin this year’s Perseids on the peak night. Perseus will be in the northeast sky and the Moon in the south at the time of the peak. How can you tell if it is true Perseid Meteor and not a sporadic? Trace the path of the meteor back, and if the path crosses the constellation of Perseus, there this is a high likelihood that what you saw was a Perseid.
-Moon passes Mars, 1 p.m. (Mars 1.9 degrees south of the moon.)
While this event occurs long after moonset in North America, you can observe Mars and the Moon very close together in the southwestern sky before dawn.

Thursday, 8/14
-Perseid Meteor Shower declining.
-Mercury at greatest eastern elongation (27 degrees.)

Wednesday, 8/18
-Venus in superior conjunction with the sun. Sorry, you can't see this.

Tuesday, 8/19
-Moon at apogee.
-Last Quarter Moon, 8:48 p.m.
Last – or Third – Quarter Moon is the phase when the Moon is three-quarters of the way around its orbit of Earth, starting at New Moon. Moon moves progressively farther eastward each night, such that after about a week it is at First Quarter, a week later at Full Moon, and a week later at Last Quarter. Last Quarter rises long after sunset and can be seen in the morning sky, even after sunrise.

Friday, 8/22
-Jupiter in conjunction with the sun. Sorry, you can't see this.

Saturday, 8/23
-Saturn 4 degrees south of moon.
-Moon approaches Saturn, before dawn
Look for the Waning Crescent Moon as it approaches Saturn in the predawn eastern sky. They are at their closest in the late afternoon, but of course will not be visible at that time.

Sunday, 8/24
-Uranus at opposition.

Wednesday, 8/27
-Mars at closest to Earth, 5:52 a.m.
On this day, Mars is closer to Earth than it has been in your lifetime or throughout recorded history! Being close, it is bright and a great sight in a small telescope. Be sure to observe it now, because your great-great-grandchildren will walk on Mars before it gets any closer to Earth than this!
-New Moon, 1:26 p.m.
The Moon is New on the 27th, but don’t expect to see it! New Moons cannot be observed, but do look for the Crescent Moon low in the western sky just after sunset beginning on Thursday.
-Mercury stationary.

Thursday, 8/28
-Mars at Opposition, 2 p.m.
Although Mars is closest to Earth on the 27th, it is at opposition today. Thus, like the Moon when it is full, it rises at about sunset, stays up all night, and sets at about sunrise. Because it is close and appears as large as it can in a telescope, don’t fail to take a look!
-Mercury 9 degrees south of the moon.

Saturday, 8/30
-Pluto stationary
-Mars at perhelion

Sunday, 8/31
-Moon at perigee.

Sting

I finally had the opportunity to go out last night and see Mars for my own two eyes.

Absolutely Amazing.

Dagenais

Hopefully I can go see it tonight.

I usually don't get a chance to see these kind of things, since I take my shower early and don't feel like heading outside in the cold.

J-Man

Skywatcher's Information for September 2003
Some information from www.space.com, www.astronomy.com
======================================================

Moon phases:
------------
Sept 3 - 1st quarter
Sept 10 - Full moon
Sept 18 - Last quarter
Sept 25 - New moon


Planets: (in a few days see: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/sky_calendar.html in case I don't update this part.)
--------
-Saturn

-Mars

-Jupiter will be in the morning sky later in September.

-Mercury

-Venus


Day-by-day: (All times ET unless noted)
-----------
Wednesday, Sept. 3
-1st quarter Moon

Sunday Sept. 7
-Neptune 5 degrees north of moon

Tuesday, Sept. 9
-Uranus 5 degrees north of moon
-Mars 1.2 degrees south of moon, occultation

Wednesday, Sept. 10
-Full moon
-Mercury in inferior conjunction

Tuesday, Sept. 16
-Moon at apogee

Thursday, Sept. 18
-Last quarter moon

Friday, Sept. 19
-Mercury stationary
-Saturn 5 degrees south of moon

Tuesday, Sept. 23
-Autumnal equinox, 6:47 a.m. EDT
-Jupiter 4 degrees south of moon

Wednesday, Sept. 24
-Mercury 5 degrees south of moon

Thursday, Sept. 25
-New Moon

Friday, Sept. 26
-Mercury at greatest western elongation (18 degrees)

Sunday, Sept. 28
-Moon at perigee