Terry's Astronomy Thread.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 1, 2013

-Now that October is here, the little fall constellation Aries is visible in the east-northeast after dark and all through the evening. Its two or three brightest stars are lined up roughly horizontally, well below the stars of Andromeda.

-Today, October 1st, Comet ISON will fly by Mars at a distance of only 0.07 AU. Red Planet satellites and rovers have a ringside seat for the flyby, and they will be snapping pictures despite a shutdown of the US government. (Apparently, Curiosity has been designated "essential personnel.")

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 1, 2013

Source:
The explosion is over but the consequences continue. About eleven thousand years ago a star in the constellation of Vela could be seen to explode, creating a strange point of light briefly visible to humans living near the beginning of recorded history. The outer layers of the star crashed into the interstellar medium, driving a shock wave that is still visible today. A roughly spherical, expanding shock wave is visible in X-rays. The above image captures some of that filamentary and gigantic shock in visible light. As gas flies away from the detonated star, it decays and reacts with the interstellar medium, producing light in many different colors and energy bands. Remaining at the center of the Vela Supernova Remnant is a pulsar, a star as dense as nuclear matter that rotates completely around more than ten times in a single second.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

Sorry guys, it appears that the US Government Shutdown has closed several sources I use to gather information on a daily basis. apod.nasa.gov is the site where most of my pictures of the day come from, and it is closed until further notice. This means until otherwise, I don't have a back up copy of my previous pictures of the day. I'll try to keep the thread running through the downtime but it will take longer to find suitable content that has not been repeated. Especially since some of the satellites and instruments have been shut off that I get photos from.

Other sections affected severely affected:
-International Space Station Tracker
-Links
-Noctilucent Clouds Tracker
-Upcoming Events [somewhat]

What's in the sky tonight?
October 2, 2013

-Have you ever seen the "false dawn," the morning zodiacal light? This is sunlight reflected from interplanetary dust orbiting in the plane of the solar system. The next two weeks offer a fine opportunity for Northern Hemisphere skywatchers.

News Posted Today:
October 1, 2013
Uranus's Unlikely Companion


Astro Picture of the Day:
October 2, 2013

Source:
Lake Tekapo on South Island in New Zealand is arguably one of best night sky locations in the Southern Hemisphere. The significance of its pristine night sky without light pollution is recognised world-wide and is being designateds as an International Dark Sky Reserve as part of a UNESCO-supported initiative to preserve the quality of the night sky and its cultural, scientific, or natural values. This photo was taken by Alex Cherney, a hobbyist astronomer who nicely frames earthly clouds below with celestial clouds above.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 3, 2013

-Jupiter is up in the east by midnight or 1 a.m. and climbs higher until dawn Friday morning. Tonight it's just 0.1° from Delta Geminorum, magnitude 3.5 (you may need binoculars). Delta Gem is more than a magnitude brighter than Ganymede, Jupiter's brightest satellite much closer in.

-As Comet ISON passes Mars en route to the sun this week, the comet is still faint. Nevertheless, many experts believe the comet is on track to become a bright sungrazer in late November. Astronomer Ignacio Ferrin of the University of Antioquia Institute of Physics in Colombia disagrees. Ferrin believes Comet ISON is about to disintegrate. The light curve of ISON, he argues, resembles the light curves of other comets that have have fallen apart. If he's right, the "Comet of the Century" could turn into a century-class disappointment.

-A CME hit Earth's magnetic field during the early hours of October 2nd, sparking a G2-class geomagnetic storm. In North America, auroras spilled across the Canadian border into more than a dozen northern-tier US states.

-The storm has subsided now, but it could flare up again. NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of more polar geomagnetic storms as Earth passes through the wake of the CME on Oct. 3rd. NOAA forecasters working through the government shutdown estimated an almost-even 45% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when the CME arrived. The CME justified those relatively high odds, sparking a G2-class geomagnetic storm around the poles.

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 3, 2013

Source:
You don't have to live in a high latitude to experience a great show from the auroras, but it sure helps. The CME that hit Earth's magnetic field today left the sun on Sept. 30th, propelled by an erupting magnetic filament. The CME was impressive, but the underlying explosion was even more so. One movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the self-destructing filament in the context of the whole sun. This movie is shown below. The above photo was taken by Monika Petersen on October 2, 2013 at Williams Lake, BC, Canada. With a G2 class magnetic storm, the northern lights would have been visible not only to the north, but also to the east, west, and directly above that location.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 4, 2013

-Even as the stars begin to come out in twilight, Cassiopeia is already higher now in the northeast than the sinking Big Dipper is in the northwest. And Cassiopeia's broad W pattern is almost standing on end.

-New Moon (exact at 8:35 p.m. EDT).

-Here's some news you might not hear from NASA because, like much of the US government, the space agency is closed. NASA's Juno spacecraft will slingshot past Earth on October 9th for a velocity boost en route to Jupiter. At closest approach the spacecraft will be only 347 miles from Earth as it gains an extra 16,000 mph for the long journey ahead. Update: During the flyby, Juno's science instruments will sample the Earth environment--a practice run for data-taking at Jupiter years from now. Fortunately, commands to activate Juno's sensors were uploaded before the shutdown. The science experiment can proceed. Radio amateurs are encouraged to beam a message to Juno during the flyby. Juno will be listening.

News Posted Today:
October 3, 2013
The Quest for Zodiacal Light


Astro Picture of the Day:
October 4, 2013

Source:
On October 2nd, a CME hit Earth's magnetic field, sparking a G2-class geomagnetic storm. Sky watchers on both ends of the Earth saw auroras; many of the lights were rare shades of red. Minoru Yoneto photographed this example from Queenstown, New Zealand. "This is how the sky looked 11 hours after the CME impact," says Yoneto, who used a Canon EOS 6D digital camera to record the reds. Auroras are usually green, and sometimes purple, but seldom do sky watchers see this much red. Red auroras occur some 300 to 500 km above Earth's surface and are not yet fully understood. Some researchers believe the red lights are linked to a large influx of electrons. When low-energy electrons recombine with oxygen ions in the upper atmosphere, red photons are emitted. At present, space weather forecasters cannot predict when this will occur. During the storm, even more red auroras were observed over the United States in places like Kansas, Ohio, and Oklahoma.

[YoshL]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

just wanted to say, you're amazing for keeping this up even though apod is down and stuff.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

It's a little challenging, but I don't necessarily rely on one source. That's why I'm still able to keep useful up to date posts going at a reasonable time. APOD just has some of the best photos that are current which is why I tend to use them. As a secondary, spaceweather also has an amateur gallery that I can browse through and find something current and interesting. If that also goes down, I look towards the European end of the space realm and search content there.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 5, 2013

-If you stay up past midnight this weekend, look east-northeast to catch bright Jupiter on the rise. Castor and Pollux are to its left. Much farther to its right, wintry Orion is coming up too.

-Jupiter (magnitude –2.2, in Gemini) rises in the east-northeast around midnight. It blazes high in the southeast by early dawn. About 8° left of it are Castor and Pollux.

-Mars (magnitude 1.6, in Leo) rises around 3 a.m. It glows in the east in early dawn with Regulus below it. Compare their colors! The gap between them shrinks from 6° on the morning of October 5th to 2° on the morning of the 12th. They'll pass a bit less than 1° apart on the morning of the 15th.

-In a telescope, Mars is still just a tiny blob 4.5 arcseconds wide.

-The Earthside of the sun is quiet, but the farside of the sun is not. During the early hours of Oct. 5th, NASA's STEREO-A probe, stationed over the farside, recorded the eruption of a southern hemisphere sunspot. Shortly after 07:30 UT, a coronal mass ejection (CME) flew over the sun's southeastern limb (credit: SOHO). Radio emissions from shock waves in the CME suggest an expansion velocity of about 700 km/s (1.6 million mph), which is fairly typical of CME speeds. If Earth were in the line of fire, we would probably observe bright polar auroras in a few days. However, this CME is heading away from, not toward our planet.

-The active region that produced the blast will rotate onto the Earthside of the sun in about 7 days. If it remains potent, geoeffective solar activity could increase late next week.

News Posted Today:
October 4, 2013
Donations Needed for Eclipse-Glasses Effort


Astro Picture of the Day:
October 5, 2013

Source:
Is it possible to image the International Space Station and transport ships that supply fuel to it from Earth? The answer is yes! The below is a passage from Philip Smith who took this image in Manorville, New York.

I imaged the ISS and Cygnus spacecraft at max 85 deg.on 9-29-13 Time 6:16am EST
I used my Meade 10 with a 2X barlow and an Orange Filter and Skynyx 2.0 M chip size 640x480 on CCD @ 66 FPS
With Emmanuel Rietsch Tracking System
Capture start time = Sunday, 29 September 2013 06:13:50 / UTC -4 Hours
Capture duration = 222.45 Sec

Captured frames = 14676

Capture frame speed = 66 Fps

Camera = Lumenera SKYnyx2-0M
pixel size = 7.40 x 7.40 µm²

Image format = MONO - 12 Bit
Capture format = Tif
Image type = Light frame
RoI size = 640x480
Frame rate = 66.6 Fps
Exposure = 1.01 ms
Gain = 12.8
Gamma = 1.00
Contrast = 1.00
Brightness = 1.0

Two private American companies are now responsible for hauling cargo to the International Space Station.
Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft attached to the orbiting laboratory today by 7:01 a.m. EST a first for the cargo ship. The rendezvous was nearly flawless, according to officials with NASA and the private company.
You can also see my video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oyMZkbtMVk

BR
Philip Smith

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 6, 2013

-The team flying NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission is among the select few at the space agency who have exemptions allowing them to work during the government shutdown. Early this morning, October 6th, they fired LADEE's main engine in a braking maneuver known as the Lunar Orbit Insertion burn. This slowed the spacecraft's velocity enough for it to be captured by the Moon's gravity. This critical burn went flawlessly and LADEE is now in lunar orbit. Two more main engine burns, on October 9 and 12 will adjust LADEE's trajectory, settling it into its commissioning orbit. LADEE is on a mission to study the diaphanous lunar atmosphere, which is mightily affected by space weather.

-Jupiter is at western quadrature this week, 90° west of the Sun in the morning sky. This is when, in a telescope, the western edge of Jupiter is most clearly dimmer than its eastern, more sunward-facing edge.

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 6, 2013

Source:
The Gegenschein is an elliptical glow in the night sky in the antisolar point. Not to be confused with the Zodiacal Light which is a reflection of sunlight from dust directly reflecting Earth, the Gegenschein is a much fainter reflection of light reflecting back from the Zodiacal Light towards Earth. The image was captured by Yuri Beletsky in October 2007 using a digital camera with a wide-angle 10 mm and installed on a portable equatorial mount lens. The sky in this picture is about as good as it gets in regards to transparency, which helped captured the fine structure of the Gegenschein. The image was taken at the Cerro Paranal Observatory, located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, at an altitude of 2635 m.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 7, 2013

-During twilight, the waxing crescent Moon shines to the right of Venus. Well to the Moon's lower right, while twilight is still fairly bright, binoculars show Saturn above Mercury.

-Comet ISON is brightening as it approaches the sun. Estimates by experienced observers put the comet between 10th and 11th magnitude. That's too dim to see with the unaided eye, but bright enough for color photography through mid-sized backyard telescopes. Michael Jäger of Weißenkirchen, Austria, observed the comet on Oct. 5th and found that it was green. To image the comet, Jäger combined multiple exposures through red, green, blue, ultraviolet and infrared filters. Details may be found here.

ISON's green color comes from the gases surrounding its icy nucleus. Jets spewing from the comet's core probably contain cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas found in many comets) and diatomic carbon (C2). Both substances glow green when illuminated by sunlight in the near-vacuum of space.

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 7, 2013

Source:
The light spectra of the zodiacal light is the same as that of the sun. A part of the light absorbed by dust is re-emittted as infrared radiation. The zodiacal light is visible to the right of this picture, as a bright, triangular shaped entity. This photo was taken just after sunset in Nambia, June 2009 in the Southern Hemisphere. While the zodiacal light is often only found in the darkest of skies, it is often referred to as the "false dawn" due to its vast luminous expanse. The zodiacal light is the brightest typically around the time of the autumnal and vernal equinoxes. Credit & Copyright: Rudi Dobesberger (Sternfreunde Steyr).

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 8, 2013

-The Moon shines above Venus in twilight. Depending on where you are in North America, the Moon, Venus, and fainter Antares form a nearly equilateral triangle.

-A minor CME, propelled towarded Earth by a magnetic filament erupting on the sun, could strike our planet's magnetic field during the late hours of Oct. 9th. NOAA forecasters working through the US government shutdown estimate a 30% to 40% chance of polar geomagnetic storms.

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 8, 2013

Source:
Earth is not the only planet in the solar system to be struck by the sun's radiation. Planets as far as Saturn have been known to form auroras. This sequence of three images taken by Hubble Space telescope of Saturn was taken over two day intervals. The auroras are caused by charged particles entering the atmosphere of Saturn, much like how it happens on Earth. Auroras have also been discovered on Jupiter.

[Snowcrafta]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

I love this thread. It's FFR's IFLS.

Second, that picture of Saturn

3 boobs

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 9, 2013

-An interplanetary shock wave, possibly the leading edge of a CME, hit Earth's magnetic field on October 8th at approximately 2015 UT (1:15 pm PDT). The impact sparked a G1-class geomagnetic storm (in progress) and bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Lana Rupp photographed the "stunning display of color" over Borgarnes, Iceland, during the early hours of Oct. 9th below. Earth is passing through the wake of the CME where a region of high-speed solar wind continues to buffet our planet's magnetic field. NOAA forecasters, who suspect that a second CME might arrive on Oct. 9th, estimate a 65% chance of polar geomagnetic storms during the next 24 hours. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras.

-Solar activity is picking up. New sunspot AR1865 erupted this morning (Oct. 9th at 01:48 UT), producing the strongest solar flare in nearly two months. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the M2.8-class eruption: movie. Earth was not in the line of fire, but future eruptions could be geoeffective as the sunspot turns toward our planet in the days ahead.

-Look for Venus far lower right of the Moon during and after twilight. Just 3/4° above Venus is 2nd-magnitude Delta Scorpii.

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 9, 2013

Source:
During the night time hours of October 8, a minor Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) impacted the magnetic field of the Earth. The impact sparked a G1-class geomagnetic storm where the northern lights could be seen as far south as Ohio. If you are a northern latitude watcher, you were given the best show however. This photo, by B.Art Braafhart of Salla, Finnish-Lapland, had front row seats to a particular intense section of the storm that pierced not only through an otherwise overcast night, but also illuminated the lake in eerie tones of green. Braafhart estimates that the storm he witnessed peaked at a Kp index of 6.33 as opposed to 5. The overcast sky contributes significantly to the eerie effect of this image. Tonight, there is a 65% chance that strong geomagnetic activity continues.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 10, 2013

-Mercury (magnitude –0.1) remains deep in the glow of sunset. About 30 minutes after sunset, use binoculars to look for it 20° lower right of Venus

-Comet ISON is not the only comet diving toward the sun. Another smaller comet is feeling the heat today. Using a coronagraph to block the sun's glare, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is monitoring the comet's death plunge. This comet is a member of the Kreutz family. Seen falling into the sun dozens of times each year, Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a single giant comet many centuries ago. They get their name from 19th century German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz, who studied them in detail.

-Today's sungrazer is probably doomed. The vast majority of Kreutz comets are small (no more than ~10 m wide) and they evaporate completely as they approach the sun. Comet ISON, on the other hand, is large (~0.5 km wide) and widely expected to survive its brush with the sun on Nov. 28th.

-Yesterday, NASA's Juno spacecraft buzzed Earth only 347 miles above our planet's surface. It was a slingshot maneuver designed to gain velocity for Juno's long trip to Jupiter (ETA: 2016). Although the spacecraft was very faint, several amateur astronomers managed to photograph it. The spacecraft is now hurtling away from Earth at 23,500 mph. Bon voyage, Juno! Find Juno Spacecraft photos here: http://spaceweathergallery.com/index.php?title=juno

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 10, 2013

Source:
An interplanetary shock wave, possibly the leading edge of a CME, hit Earth's magnetic field on October 8th at approximately 2015 UT. The impact sparked a G1-class geomagnetic storm and bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Harald Albrigtsen sends this picture from Tromsĝ, Norway. Solar wind speeds remain elevated (~450 km/s) as Earth exits the wake of the CME. As a result, NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Oct. 10th. The photo itself is a 10 second exposure at ISO 1600 acording to the photgorapher. During geomagnetic storms, the northern lights are easily luminous enough to reflect in still water.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 11, 2013

-The Kreutz sungrazer plunged into the sun yesterday - but it did not come out again. The icy visitor from the outer solar system was blasted by solar heat and completely destroyed. SOHO recorded the doomed comet's last moments

-Radio amateurs, have you heard any strange roaring sounds coming from the loudspeakers of your shortwave radios this week? It might have been the sun. "The Sun has been generating Type III solar radio bursts and they appear to be intensifying," reports amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft of New Mexico. "The strongest burst so far came at 2155 UTC on October 9th." Ashcraft recommends listening to the audio using stereo headphones. "Type III bursts drift downward in frequency," he explains. "In stereo you can hear the burst pass through 28 MHz first on one speaker and then flow through 21 MHz on the other sound speaker."

Type III solar radio bursts are produced by electrons accelerated to high energies (1 to 100 keV) by solar flares. As the electrons stream outward from the sun, they excite plasma oscillations and radio waves in the sun's atmosphere. When these radio waves head in the direction of Earth, they make themselves heard in the loudspeakers of shortwave radios around the dayside of the planet.

More radio bursts could be in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of M-class flares and a 5% chance of X-class flares during the next 24 hours.

The audio of the radio burst can be found here: [caution: will get loud]

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2013/10oct13/Sr_Oct092013_2155ut2821_Ashcraft.mp3

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 11, 2013

Source:
If you have a solar telescope, depending on where you live, you have access to a day long show in that of the sun. This year is a particularly interesting year in the advent of solar maximum, albeit the weakest solar maximum in 100 years. However, there is speculation that this solar max will be double peaked, where the first peak has already passed us and we're presently in a lull. It's just a matter of time under this theory that the sun picks up again, and early speculation appears to be such that it may be picking right back up again. Here is a look at the AR1864 and AR1865 from 10:54 to 11:54UT by an amateur astronomer. Seeing was generally poor, but equipment used was an SM90 and DMK51 mono camera.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 12, 2013

-Sunspot AR1861 is pointing directly at Earth and crackling with C-class solar flares. Bigger eruptions could be in the offing. The sunspot has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that could erupt at any time. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of M-class flares and a 15% chance of X-flares on Oct. 12th.

-Venus has been approaching much dimmer Antares, which twinkles to Venus's left in the southwest in evening twilight. They're now 4½° apart. They'll pass 1½° from each other on Wednesday.

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 12, 2013

Source:
Yesterday, A rare case of three moons — Io, Europa, and Callisto — casting their tiny black shadows onto Jupiter at once happened late last night, from 4:32 to 5:37 Universal Time October 12th (12:32 to 1:37 a.m. Saturday morning Eastern Daylight Time). Jupiter was high and best placed for telescope users in Europe and Africa, and low in the eastern sky for eastern North America. This is the same as having 3 lunar eclipses happening at the same time on the planet. This photo in particular is from Günther Strauch of Borken, Germany.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Terry's Astronomy Thread.

What's in the sky tonight?
October 13, 2013

-Earth is entering the outskirts of a debris stream from Halley's comet, source of the annual Orionid meteor shower. Last night, Oct. 12th, cameras in NASA's All-Sky Fireball Network detected two bright Orionid fireballs over the United States. The shower is expected to peak this year on Oct. 21st with ~20 meteors per hour between local midnight and dawn. An almost-full Moon on peak night will sharply reduce visibility, so watch out for the early Orionids. They might be the only ones you see. The Fireball network is outlined in the map below.

-The zenith star soon after dark (for skywatchers at mid-northern latitudes) is no longer Vega but Deneb. It will remain there for weeks to come, since night is falling earlier and earlier all the time — counteracting the westward turning of the constellations if you observe at nightfall.

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 13, 2013

Source:
The triple transit Jupiter experienced October 12th was seen throughout most of Europe and parts of North America. This movie from Kocaeli, TURKEY was taken by Ahmet Kale between 7:20am - 8:00am. He writes, "It was very cloudy that night, but I waited patiently until the morning to find an opportunity to take this special moment. I was lucky, clouds gone just before the event started and I managed to capture this events first 30 minutes. The Sun was at about 10 degree high, So I just use 742 nm IR filter." Equipment he used consisted of a C11 EdgeHD on CGEM DX telescope, ZWO ASI 120MM camera, Astronomik ProPlanet IR742 Filter, and 34 x 1 minute captures at 150fps.

The key to this capture was the filter. The ProPlanet IR 742 only allows infrared light with wavelengths of more than 742 nm to pass. In this wavelength range the effects of seeing are significantly lower than in the visible spectrum of the human eye. This allows much sharper images than are usually obtained from your device and location. Another advantage is that the sky background of advanced dawn is dark and so the filter even allows photography of the planets and the moon at daylight. This series of photos was taken well after sunrise due to clouds, and would not have been possible without this piece of equipment.