Harrison Schmitt

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.

Two Conjunctions

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.

Triple conjunction - Venus, Jupiter & The Moon

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

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).