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Planets Above The Clouds
Title Planets Above The Clouds
Explanation Clouds scatter the faint orange rays of the setting sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000115.html ] in the foreground of this breathtaking photograph from the summit [ http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko/mko.html ] of Mauna Kea, Hawaii [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980725.html ]. Taken on April 7th, this skyscape features a dramatic lunar and planetary alignment [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000406.html ]. An overexposed crescent moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991108.html ] dominates the celestial scene, but the bright "star" just below and to its right is Saturn [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/Kids/stories/ ] while further below Saturn is a close pairing of brilliant Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000429.html ] and a fainter, yellowish Mars [ http://marsnt3.jpl.nasa.gov/education/students.html ]. Red giant star Aldebaran [ http://www.bo.astro.it/copernic/alde-eng.html ] is almost directly above the moon near the top of the image and the bright blue stars of the Pleiades cluster [ http://www.aao.gov.au/images.html/captions/uks018.html ] are visible about midway up and to the right of the moon-Aldebaran line. The good news is that planetary alignments [ http://www.skypub.com/news/special/whypanic.html ] like this one do not portend [ http://tech-two.mit.edu/Shakespeare/Tragedy/macbeth/ macbeth.html ] disasters, are relatively common, and can clearly make inspirational viewing for casual stargazers and astronomers alike. The bad [ http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planets.html ] news is that the world is not going to end because of the highly publicized planetary alignment [ http://www.griffithobs.org/SkyAlignments.html ] occurring tomorrow, May 5th -- so you probably will have to go to work [ http://www.nasa.gov/newsinfo/alignment.html ]!
Long Leonid
Title Long Leonid
Explanation Just last week this long lovely Leonid shower [ http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ ast21nov_1.htm ] meteor arced through the night. Captured on [ http://www.comet-track.com/meteor/leonids00/ leonids00.html ] November 17/18 by photographer [ http://www.comet-track.com ] Bob Yen, the meteor trail spans about 70 times the apparent diameter of the full moon in the skies above Mt. Wilson, California, USA. The Leonid's path flashes from the outskirts of constellation Gemini [ http://www.seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/Fig/ gemini.html ] to the triangle-shaped head of Taurus [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/ taurus-p.html ] (lower right). Of course, the trail points back toward Leo, the shower's [ http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/ leonids.html ] eponymous radiant, while passing near such night sky notables as galactic star cluster M35 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m035.html ] (upper left) and Taurus's brightest star, red giant Aldebaran [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/ aldebaran.html ]. Though the sky was ruled by a bright but waning Moon and brilliant Jupiter, the Leonid meteor shower [ http://www.spaceweather.com/meteors/gallery_18nov00.html ] still awed observers at dark sky locations with peak rates of hundreds of meteors per hour.
Planets in the West
Title Planets in the West
Explanation Have you seen any bright planets lately? Chances are if you've been outside under clear skies [ http://currentsky.com/ ] just after sunset, then you have. Now shining in the west as bright "stars [ http://nfo.edu/astro/planets.htm ]" in the night sky, are all five planets of the solar system known to [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/ceps/etp/discovery/ etpdiscovery.html ] ancient astronomers - Mercury, Venus, Mars [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ funzone.html ], Saturn, and Jupiter [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/ jupiter.html ]. Recorded from Holt, Michigan, USA about 40 minutes after sunset on April 14th, this digital image [ http://www.pa.msu.edu/people/frenchj/const/index2.html ] captures three of them, Venus, Mars, and Saturn [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/planets/ saturn_index.html ], along with a young crescent Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000728.html ]. Also indicated are the Pleiades [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010506.html ] star cluster and bright red giant star Aldebaran [ http://www.earthsky.com/Features/ Skywatching/pronounce.html ] in Taurus. Mercury [ http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Jan97/ MercuryUnveiled.html ], setting, is lost in the trees and glow along the horizon, while Jupiter is off the top of this view. The coming weeks [ http://www.darkhorizons.org/planets.htm ] will see photo opportunities galore as all five planets gradually move closer together, posing after sunset with the Moon and stars in the western sky [ http://www.skyviewcafe.com/skyview.shtml ]. Venus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020330.html ], Mars, and Saturn will form the closest trio, drawing within a 5 degree circle (about the apparent size of your fist with arm extended) above Aldebaran by May 3rd.
Help Aldebaran Map the Moon
Title Help Aldebaran Map the Moon
Explanation Turn on your camcorder, go outside, and become an astronomer. How? [ http://www.sky.net/~robinson/0729prls.htm ]. Tomorrow morning, our Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970728.html ap960730.html ] will pass directly in front of Aldebaran [ http://www.bo.astro.it/copernic/alde-eng.html ], the brightest star in this picture and in entire constellation of Taurus [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Taurus.html ]. Aldebaran [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970728.html http://www.adler.uchicago.edu/ISE/TAURUS4.HTM ] is visible to the left and below Comet Hale-Bopp in the above photograph [ http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/comet/cat1.html ], which was taken on April 30th in Tenerife [ http://www.cistia.es/cabildotf/ ], Spain. This occultation is valuable because disappearance times from different locations can be used to map the height of the lunar terrain [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960420.html ] at the occultation points. You can help by clicking here [ http://www.sky.net/~robinson/iotandx.htm ], where a site will detail how to tape a familiar cable channel and then take your still-running camcorder [ http://www.sky.net/~robinson/0729camc.htm ] outside to tape the occultation of Aldebaran [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1983ApJ%2E%2E%2E265%2E%2E325S&db_key=AST&nosetcookie=1 ] by the Moon. You can then donate your VCR tape to science by mailing it to this address [ http://www.sky.net/~robinson/0729prls.htm ]. Leave yourself plenty of time [ http://www.sky.net/~robinson/0729tysd.htm ] for a practice run and be sure to check the weather before going to a lot of trouble!
Moon and Planets Sky Credit …
Title Moon and Planets Sky Credit & Copyright: Wojtek Rychlik [ http://www.pikespeakphoto.com ]
Explanation Look up into the sky tonight [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/ 19mar_planets.htm ] and without a telescope or binoculars you might have a view [ http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/gmackie/billions.html ] like this one of Moon, planets and stars. The lovely photo [ http://www.pikespeakphoto.com/planets.html ] was taken on March 23rd, and captures the crescent Moon on the horizon with Venus above it. Both brilliant celestial bodies are over-exposed. Farther above Venus is the tinted glow of Mars with the Pleiades star cluster just to the red planet's right. The V-shaped arrangement of stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040304.html ] to the left of Mars is the Hydaes star cluster. Bright red giant Aldebaran [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/ aldebaran.html ], not itself a member of the Hyades cluster, marks the top left of the V. During the next week [ http://www.griffithobs.org/planetsgather.html ], all five naked-eye planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, along with the Moon will grace the evening sky [ http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/ article_1226_1.asp ] together - a lunar and planetary spectacle that can be enjoyed by skygazers [ http://www.spaceweather.com/ ] around the world. But look just after sunset, low on the western horizon, to see Mercury [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030412.html ] before it sets. The next similar gathering [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000524.html ] of the planets will be in 2008.
Planets Over Easter Island
Title Planets Over Easter Island
Explanation It isn't every day that planets line up behind a stone giant. For one thing, it helps to have a good planet line-up [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040501.html ], such as occurred in the sky just last month. For another, it helps to be on Easter Island [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/easter/ ], where over 800 large stone statues exist. The Easter Island statues [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/easter/civilization/giants.html ], stand, on the average, over twice as tall as a person and have over 200 times as much mass. Few specifics are known about the history or meaning of the unusual statues [ http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/ioa/eisp/ ], but many believe that they were created about 500 years ago in the images of local leaders of a lost civilization. Pictured above, the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030810.html ], Venus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040516.html ], and Mars [ http://www.nineplanets.org/mars.html ] can be seen behind Ahu Tahai [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/easter/explore/ahutahai.html ], a famous Easter Island statue. The bright star Aldebaran [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/aldebaran.html ] is also visible.
Help Map The Moon
Title Help Map The Moon
Explanation You can help map the Moon [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/ ]. Early tomorrow morning (Saturday, September 12) the Moon will occult [ http://www.skypub.com/occults/aldebaran/980912a.html ], or pass in front of, the bright star Aldebaran [ http://www.adler.uchicago.edu/ISE/TAURUS4.HTM ] as viewed from some Southern and Eastern areas of the U.S. as well as regions in the Caribbean Sea, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Mexico, and Central America. Aldebaran [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/hr/1457.html ] will disappear behind the bright edge of the third quarter moon and reappear behind the darkened edge. Accurately timed [ http://www.skypub.com/occults/timings.html ] home video camera recordings from different locations can be used to make improved maps of the height of the lunar terrain at these occultation points. Interested? Follow the instructions [ http://www.sky.net/~robinson/camcord.htm ] on the International Occultation Timing Association HomePage [ http://www.sky.net/~robinson/iotandx.htm ] which detail how to tape a familiar TV channel, take your running camcorder outside to record the occultation, and then return to tape a few more minutes of the TV channel. (First, determine if the occultation will be visible from your location!) You can then donate your tape by mailing it to the address given. Leave yourself plenty of time for a practice run and be sure to check the weather before going to a lot of trouble! This mosaic [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/ cgi-bin/PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA00128 ] mapping the North polar region of the lunar surface was constructed from images recorded by the Galileo spacecraft in 1992.
Moon Over California
Title Moon Over California
Explanation The Moon, Saturn, and Venus shine above while city lights twinkle below in the deepening twilight of [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990325.html ] March 19. Taken from outside Indio, California, the photo shows [ http://members.home.com/rmscott/orman_index.html ] the city lights of Indio and nearby Palm Springs. The brilliant lunar crescent [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990129.html ] is over exposed here with Saturn about 4 degrees away to the upper right and bright Venus still farther to the right only another 2 degrees or so. This Sunday evening, April 18, another dramatic lunar spectacle should be easily visible to stargazers [ http://eclipse.span.ch/18apr99.htm ] in the western and midwestern US when the crescent moon passes in front of the bright star Aldebaran [ http://www.skypub.com/sights/skyevents/9904skyevents.html ].
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