Astrowatcher

ISS and STS-129

2009-11-26T20:45:00.002+01:00

Heavens-above.com predicted the ISS to be visible at magnitude -1.6 at 18:37:11 local time (UTC +1) at 10 deg altitude. I took the opportunity and was presented by the magnificent sight of the ISS passing through Hercules, Ophiuchus and Aquila, followed at a distance of about 10 degrees by the fainter STS-129 , the space shuttle Atlantis, at magnitude 0.4. The two craft entered the Earth's shadow and disappeared as they approached Jupiter. The sight of the two craft orbiting the Earth in close formation in the evening sky was awesome.

Starry Night

2009-08-24T19:57:00.018+02:00

Last Saturday night the local astronomical society organized its annual boat trip. The trip is an opportunity to see a truly dark sky, a sight which has become impossible to see on our overdeveloped and light polluted island.

The trip started at sunset in the fishing port of Marsaxlokk on board the trawler Padre Pio. The night was chosen because the moon was at a lunation of only 2.3 days and set early at 20:41. It showed a lovely crescent low over the horizon at sunset but Saturn and Mercury which lay close to it were invisible in the low haze.

The port of Marsaxlokk at sunset

As the boat travelled South East, the sky grew darker and the bright stars emerged, Arcturus, Vega, Antares were visible and Jupiter appeared to dominate the sky. Slowly the light pollution faded into the distance and the twilight ended revealing the night sky in all its glory.

The most amazing sight is our own galaxy, the Milky Way visible like a bright cloud arching across the sky from Sagittarius to Cassiopeia and reflected in the sea below. The countless stars blazed in the sky in a number so large that the normally easily recognisable constellations were drowned in the myriad stars making them hard to pick out. Meteors streaked in large numbers and early on a number of satellites were visible, most notably an Iridium flare which went approximately to magnitude +4.

The visibility of deep sky objects in such a dark sky is amazing. The Lagoon Nebula (M8) and Ptolemy's cluster (M7) were clearly visible to the naked eye. The Sagittarius star cloud (M24) stood out beautifully against the rest of the Milky Way.

I had my Celestron Skymaster15x70 with me and took my chance to use them to observe the dark sky. I went through a list of favourite deep sky objects. The most notable being the M4, M13, M27, M31 which filled much of the field of view, M6, M22 and M20. I also managed to see the North American Nebula (NGC 7000) for the first time. From my home location it isn't visible even with a 200mm Dobson. The "Gulf of Mexico" could be clearly seen.

I had prepared charts for the positions of Uranus and Neptune and I easily found them. Neptune was at mag +7.8 one third of the way between μ Cap and 42 Cap. Uranus lay below the circlet in Pisces on the extension of a line from ι Psc to λ Psc next to 20 Psc. At mag +5.7 Uranus was actually visible to the naked eye if one knew where to look.

The trip took us to a point 33.5 nautical miles to the South East of the island and drifted for two hours before heading back. At one point you could see the reflections of Jupiter and Venus in the sea on either side of the boat as dolphins darted between the waves and luminescent jellyfish glowed in the wake.

As the night wore on, more constellations rose in the East. Taurus appeared with the Pleiades, the Hyades and Mars. Auriga with its three magnificent open clusters M36, M37 and M38. Just before dawn Orion was visible with the belt stars hanging vertically over the horizon. Venus rose and then the sky lightened as the Sun put an end to the show.

Sunrise over the Mediterranean

This annual event shouldn't be missed by any local astronomy enthusiast for the unforgettable view it allows onto the universe.

Harrison Schmitt

2009-04-22T22:34:00.004+02:00

I attended a talk this evening by Harrison Schmitt, a member of the Apollo 17 mission and the last man to set foot on the moon (and the one before the last to leave). This was my first chance to hear a live first-hand account by a man who had been there. It is quite an experience when you realize that you are faced my someone who had actually set foot on the moon and experienced the gravity of another heavenly body. Schmitt is also the only scientist to have visited the moon.

The lecture was very interesting and the presentation included several anecdotes as he went through the mission touching on several aspects in a way that only one who went thorough the adventure would.

I took the photo above with my phone.

Venus and Saturn

2009-03-20T23:10:00.004+01:00

With Venus quickly moving towards inferior conjunction and each day setting closer to the Sun, I took the opportunity to observe its waning crescent. I could not use the telescope because it was too low for the scope from my observing location, but through my 15x70 binoculars the crescent was clearly visible in the twilight.

Later, at about 21:30 local time (20:30 UTC), I observed Saturn through my 200mm dobson telescope. I went for a magnification of x200 using my 6mm eyepiece. The rings are almost edge on but I could still see the very narrow gap between the rings and the planet. Of the moons, I could easily see Titan immediately to the East of the planet, and Rhea further out. Dione was faintly visible between them. I did manage to glimpse Tethys just outside the rings' Western tip but I couldn't see Enceladus which should have been just north of Titan.

Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin (2nd Post)

2009-02-22T22:58:00.002+01:00

I had the opportunity to observe the comet through 15x70 binoculars again this evening. At 22:50 CET it was close to the 6.95 magnitude star HD101730.

Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin (updated)

2009-02-21T22:28:00.009+01:00

Tonight I made my first observation of Comet Lulin as it moved Westwards through Virgo heading towards Leo and the planet Saturn which is presently near the lion's hind leg (σ Leo). I observed the comet through my 15x70 Celestron binoculars. Unfortunately there was some thin cloud but the comet was still visible. At 22:10 CET it was very close to the 7.79 magnitude star HD104484. Over a short period of time the motion of the comet relative to the star was noticeable. I was able to note hint of a tail to the West of the comet. Later on, at about 00:45 CET, I again observed the comet which had moved very close to the 6.17 magnitude star HD104055.

Not to be missed is the conjunction of the comet with Saturn on the night between the 23rd and 24th February.

Two Conjunctions

2009-01-01T20:30:00.009+01:00

2008 left us with a great view of two simultaneous conjunctions. On the last evening of the year the 15% crescent Moon lay about 2 degrees away from Venus while lower down, just above the horizon the largest and smallest planets, Jupiter and Mercury, were just about one degree apart. This was a great opportunity to see three planets including the elusive Mercury in the same part of the sky all within about eight degrees. Although not visible to the naked eye, Neptune was only about 2.5 degrees away from the Moon making it a triple conjunction.

Later on, after the midnight champagne, at around one o'clock at night I could observe Saturn in Leo close to the border with Virgo, making it four out of a possible five visible planets in one night.

Mira

2008-12-23T21:26:00.005+01:00

Mira (Omicron Ceti) is approaching it's maximum. It is a long-period pulsating variable with a period of 331.96 days. I observed it yesterday through binoculars but it was easily visible with the naked eye. The AAVSO website gives its present magnitude at around 3.5. I also caught my first glimpse of Saturn for this season just after midnight as it rose in the Easten sky in Leo, close to the border with Virgo.

Winter Solstice & Vesta update

2008-12-21T15:00:00.006+01:00

Yesterday evening I took the opportunity to have a look at Vesta. It has now passed between TYC0040-01286-1 and 112 Psc and it lay just below TYC0040-00885-1 making an isosceles triangle with the two previously mentioned stars.

Today is the winter solstice. The photo above was taken about one and a quarter hours before the solstice which fell at exactly 13:04 local time. The photo is of a sundial which shows the solar analemma (the path followed by the midday sun). The shadow of the gnomon is (almost) in its position at the top of the analemma, where it should be on the shortest day of the year. On the day of the summer solstice, the shadow will fall on the lowest point of the analemma.

Triple conjunction - Venus, Jupiter & The Moon

2008-12-01T20:47:00.003+01:00

A stunning triple conjunction graced the skies this evening. At my latitude, a gibbous Venus grazed the the moon, coming extremely close but was never eclipsed. Jupiter was a couple of degrees away forming an amazing trio. Above are a couple of photos I took of the event. One through the 200mm dobson and the other through a tripod mounted SLR.

During the conjunction, Europa entered occultation behind Jupiter as Callisto was out to the West and Io and Ganymede were paired close together to the East. It is curious to note that at that point there was a syzygy between five bodies; the Earth, the Moon, Venus, Jupiter and Europa.

Vesta continues in its movement towards Alpha Piscium. Tonight it formed a flat isoceles triangle with TYC0040-01286-1 and 112 Psc which in turn form a rough equilateral triangle with Alpha Piscium.

Venus, Jupiter and the Moon

2008-11-30T08:53:00.008+01:00

Look to the West tomorrow evening just after sunset for the spectacular triple conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon. This is a rare astronomical treat, not to be missed. The objects are bright enough to be visible even in light polluted skies. I prepared a view of the event for my location on "Cartes de Ciel" software.

Meanwhile Vesta may be observed, even only through binoculars, slowly creeping towards Alpha Piscium (Alrischa).

Vesta

2008-11-25T21:39:00.005+01:00

After a hiatus in my observational astronomy, last night I tried out my new Celestron Skymaster 15x70 binoculars on an observation of the asteroid Vesta. At this time, this asteroid is well placed close to the star Alpha Piscium.

I downloaded a very good chart from the Sky & Telescope website. The asteroid was quickly found in the expected position, almost equidistant between the stars TYC0040-01162-1, TYC0041-01221-1 and TYC0041-01255-1 on the border between Pisces and Cetus. I will now check tonight if there was any movement in the object I observed that would confirm that it is the asteroid.

Otherwise I tried the binoculars on some open clusters like M35, M41, M36, M37, M38 and the Pleiades. I also observed the Perseus Double Cluster, the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy and was quite pleased to find and observe Hind's Crimson star, R Leporis.

Altogether, I am quite pleased with the performance of my new binoculars.

Dark Sky Trip

2008-08-31T13:05:00.022+02:00

Saturday was the date for the local astronomical society's annual trip to view the night sky from the darkest possible location, a spot fifty five kilometres South-West of the island. The trip had been postponed from the end of last June due to bad sea conditions. This time conditions were near perfect with a calm sea and cloudless clear sky.

The aptly named Galaxy steamed out for some two and a half hours then turned off the engine and lights to allow us to enjoy the greatest spectacle in nature, the universe we are part of.

Unfortunately, light pollution hides much of the night sky and there are no really dark sky locations on the island. The wonders of which we are deprived are revealed far away from the shore beyond the reach of the artificial skyglow.

The greatest wonder in the sky is the Milky Way itself. In the dark sky it is not the hardly visible pale patch, but a large band arching across the sky, all its structure revealed. The light and darker areas are a wonder to behold. Areas like the Cygnus Rift, the parts in Scutum, Sagittarius, Cygnus and Cassiopeia are stunning. The darkness also brings out objects such as M8, M7, M31 and the Double Cluster as easy naked eye targets.

I had studied the exact positions of Uranus and Neptune to be able to observe them. Uranus was actually visible to the naked eye. Neptune was easily visible through binoculars. Among the other objects observed through binoculars were M11, M13, M22, M24, M27, M103. I was especially pleased to see M33 which I have always found to be elusive. Other highlights were stars in the constellations Grus and Phoenix close to the southern horizon. The night ended with the rising of the winter constellations as Gemini and Orion loomed over the Eastern horizon.

This now yearly event is an unmissable occasion to view the magnificent night sky and observe the wonder of the universe.

Nasa's Phoenix Mission

2008-05-16T21:20:00.004+02:00

Just a few days left for Nasa's Phoenix mission to land in the Martian North Polar region on May 25th. This mission will land much further North than any other previous lander. It will examine the Martian soil and ice. The intention is to study the permafrost and check whether the conditions are, or ever were, habitable and who knows, maybe find signs of past, or dare I say present, life.

So we may be in for some interesting discoveries to help us build a better understanding of our little red neighbour.

The Phoenix Has Landed

2008-05-26T23:13:00.004+02:00

Phoenix has landed safely on Mars. The views of the Martian Arctic it is sending are stunning. The polygonal reticulated surface is indicative of the freezing and thawing cycles of the permafrost. We now await the interesting science to start coming out. On a personal note, the lander is carrying my name, together with countless others, on a silica mini-DVD as part of a Message from Earth initiative of the Planetary Society

Lunar Eclipse 21/2/2008

2008-02-21T10:29:00.002+01:00

Big disappointment last night. In the evening the sky was not too promising, overcast with some light rain at times, however by 1:00 a.m. I managed a glimpse of the full moon with my 16x70 binoculars. I set the alarm for 4:00 a.m., the start of totality. No luck however, the sky was completely overcast with the orange light pollution glow reflected by the low cloud. I shall now have to wait to see another total lunar eclipse until Wednesday 15 June 2011 when totality starts at the more socially acceptable hour of 21:22.

Comet 8P Tuttle

2008-01-02T20:14:00.000+01:00

Tonight I observed the comet 8P Tuttle in Pisces just about 5 degrees away from Gamma Arietis (Mesarthim) and making an equilateral triangle with 107Psc and 109Psc. The comet is listed as having a brightness of 5.8, but of course since this is an extended object, the surface brightness is low. In fact, with 16x70 binoculars I could not see it until my eyes started becoming dark adapted. Tonight the distance to the comet is 0.254AU which is its closest approach. This comet has an orbital period of 13.58 years and is responsible for the Ursid meteor shower. The image above was obtained from the JPL Small-Body Database.

Later on, at about 21:00 UTC, I took out the 200mm dob and had a look at the comet. I observed the fuzzy patch with a brighter core. I couldn't see any tail. I also observed Mars. The planet was centred around 100 degrees and I could make out three dark patches at the "top", the South of the planet, which correspond to the Mare Sirenum, the Solis Lacus and the Mare Erythraeum.

Mars at closest approach

2007-12-19T20:05:00.000+01:00

Yesterday being the closest approach between Mars and Earth (88 million kilometres), I took the opportunity of clear skies to observe the planet. I made my observation around 22:00 UT using magnifications of x120 and x200. I was disappointed with the view since it was not as sharp as I expected. The dark areas in the South (the top in the telescope view) were visible and corresponded to the Mare Cimmerium and the Mare Tyrrhenum. I am not sure if I made out Syrtis Major since it was close to the limb. I must try again when the weather is clear.

Comet Holmes 5

2007-11-20T22:52:00.000+01:00

Comet Holmes has increased so much in size that its surface brightness is now quite low. Last night I could see it with the naked eye with some difficulty. However, through 16x70 binoculars its magnificent coma stretched out to Mirfak (Alpha Perseus).

Comet Holmes 4

2007-11-17T17:01:00.000+01:00

The comet is now very close to Mirfak (Alpha Persei). I have been following it with binoculars over the last few nights as the comet approached ever closer to the star and it's coma expanded. It now has a diameter of 30 arcminutes making it appear as large as the Sun or the full Moon. A truly fantastic astronomical sight.

Comet Holmes 3

2007-11-06T23:42:00.000+01:00

The comet is now moving up towards Mirfak (Alp Per). It is also growing larger. I estimate it filled a quarter of the 1 deg field I get with my 25mm eyepiece making it some 15 arcminutes across. I confess that the bright object inside the comet that I took to be a star in my previous post was actually the comet itself as I could see from the many photos I have seen since and my observations over the last few days. The comet itself is evolving and I could see that the outer part is less defined on one side than on the other where it is still a well formed circular shape. With the naked eye the comet is now very clearly non-stellar as its diameter continues to increase.

I also observed the Crab Nebula which is exceedingly faint in my light polluted skies, the M42 and Mars. The planet is not very large at 12.7 arcseconds across. I could see a dark band across the top (i.e. South when seen inverted) and a dark patch on the low Eastern side. I later checked that the dark band consisted of the Mare Cimmerium and the Mare Tyrrhenum and the patch to the East was Syrtis Major.

Comet Holmes 2

2007-10-30T22:57:00.000+01:00

After a frustrating three nights in which I could not observe the comet because of cloud, tonight was finally clear. The comet has moved since I had last observed it on Friday, this time forming an isosceles triangle with Mirfak (Alp Per) at the apex and Del Per at the other side.

The comet had also expanded, It was now obviously non-stellar to the naked eye and looked stunning through binoculars.

The telescope view was fantastic. I roughly estimated the coma to be about 8.5 arcminutes across with the brighter central part slightly off centre. I also observed as the the star TYC 3334-512-1 (I hope I've identified it properly) showed through the coma just outside the brighter central part.

I hope there will be more clear nights to observe the evolution of this object.

Comet Holmes 1

2007-10-26T22:00:00.000+02:00

This comet is giving an unexpected show in the autumn sky. On the 24th October, this previously magnitude 17 comet suddenly went through an outburst that made it about a million times brighter taking it to naked eye visibility.

Unfortunately I was clouded out last night. However, this evening notwithstanding very high humidity, a thin veil of high cloud and an almost full moon, I set out to observe the comet. I was not to be disappointed. The object is impossible to miss even with the naked eye, making a right angled triangle with Mirfak (Alpha Persei) and Delta Persei with the right angle at Delta.

With the naked eye the comet looks like a bright star which I made out to be certainly brighter than Delta Persei and brighter even than the 2.9 Gamma Persei. I can't be too certain due to the high cloud.

Through 16x70 binoculars, the comet appeared as a yellowish fuzzy object.

I then got out the 8" Dobsonian. Here the comet could be seen at its most magnificent. The object looks like a large planetary nebula. I observed a bright core surrounded by a large circular coma. I could not see any tail.

Considering that the comet is so far away from the sun (2.44 AU) and 1.63 AU from the Earth, I think that such a bright outburst is amazing.

Due to the haze there was not much else worth observing except the Moon. Here the highlight was the sun setting over the crater Humboldt. This offered a spectacular view of the shadow of the central peak on its Eastern wall.

Above image from the JPL Small-Body Database Browser

M33

2007-09-09T11:15:00.000+02:00

I observed from my summer house location using my 16x70 binoculars. The atmosphere was clear giving a limiting magnitude of about +5.5 which I estimated by counting the number of visible stars inside the square of Pegasus.

I first went for some easy targets; M31, M15 (which looked almost like a star), the coathanger, M27, the double cluster, M103 and M34 among others. Then being quite dark I went for the elusive M33. After scanning the area between Alpha Trianguli and Beta Andromedae on a line with Mu Andromedae, I found the faint patch of M33. It was unmistakable (not my imagination). Checking on Cartes du Ciel confirmed that I the patch was in the right location.

Another interesting binocular target was the variable Chi Cygnii which is now approaching maximum. Last year was an exceptional maximum when it was actually brighter than Eta Cygnii (mag +4), the other star in the swan's neck. This time round, with about two weeks estimated for maximum, I estimated that it is still at approximately mag +6. One to look out for in the coming weeks.

ISS & STS-118

2007-08-19T22:10:00.000+02:00

Earlier this evening I observed the International Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-118 travelling together. The shuttle had undocked from the space station at 7:56 a.m. EDT (11:56 UTC). I checked visible passes from my location on heavens-above.com and found that both spacecraft were to pass from NNW to ENE with a maximum altitude of 24 deg within seconds of each other starting at 21:01:48 (19:01:48 UTC).

I went out minutes before the predicted pass and on cue the two craft appeared together below the pointer stars in Ursa Major. They travelled together, the slightly fainter shuttle in front. As they passed some eleven degrees below Polaris, I estimated the distance between them at just over one degree. They both disappeared after they passed through the centre of Cassiopeia.

I found this sighting fascinating especially when one considers the two crews manning the spacecraft. I hope that the crew on STS-118 has a safe return and that the much publicized gash in the heat shield does not create any problems.