Tag Archives: observing

Stupid Astronomer Tricks #3: The Dog Star

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This entry is part 2 of 11 in the series Stupid astronomer

We’re running a membership drive this month – our goal is 150 new members – and as a part of it we’re including this blatant clickbait series… Besides, it’s a chance to tell some of the funny stories that come up during cloudy nights at the VATT! The old astronomer tells the tale… In our Jesuit community nowadays there are too many people (with too many allergies) and too many trips away from the house to let any of us keep any pets. It’s a kind of poverty, I guess. However, many years ago when there were only a handful of Jesuits at the University of Arizona, one of them did have a dog. “Underdog” was his name. Of course, with such a small community, it was a problem going away from the house for a few days, to go up the mountain to the telescope for an observing run. Who would care for the dog? His solution was to bring Underdog … Continue reading →

Go Observe – 46P/ Wirtanen Good Luck

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Two sketches of 46P/Wirtanen creating one gif showing the comets movement over time. 20:40 UT Dec 9th 2018 & 00:50 UT Dec 10th 2018. Dob, 1,200 mm FL / 32 mm eyepiece/ 37X/ pastel and gel pen. 4.5 mag, DC 4 coma visible naked eye , huge diffuse object. While viewing I thought I observed some radial features but not clear enough to include in the sketches. The edges / shape of the coma was difficult to see.  No green observed or  tail visible to me at the time. This is a view from my dob therefore  south is at the top. The comet is acutally heading upwards in the nightsky. It is remarkable how quickly it is moving away from the star  94 Cet in my drawings.       This comet has a coma of circa 36,000 km. The nucleus  is spewing out gas and dust.   To my eye it had no green tint. Only comet  C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy in 2015 … Continue reading →

International Observe the Moon Night – Oct. 20

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International Observe the Moon Night is a worldwide celebration of lunar science and exploration held annually since 2010. One day each year, everyone on Earth is invited to observe and learn about the Moon together, and to celebrate the cultural and personal connections we all have with our nearest neighbor. The event occurs in September or October, when the Moon is around first quarter. A first quarter Moon is visible in the afternoon and evening, a convenient time for most hosts and participants. Furthermore, the best lunar observing is typically along the dusk/dawn terminator, where shadows are the longest, rather than at full Moon. The International Observe the Moon Night website has list of scheduled events – you can register your event here. Resources for hosting your event here. NASA’s Moon Phase and Libration website will show you the phase of the Moon for any date in 2018 – the image below is how the Moon will appear on Oct. 20th. … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Awaiting the stars

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This entry is part 104 of 190 in the series Across the Universe

This column first ran in The Tablet in December 2010. We returned to Australia in early December [2010], once more trying to find a clear night or two when we could map the southern sky. After being clouded out in August [see an earlier Tablet column here], nine days straight, we’d gone home without seeing the promised stars. Now we were waiting again, as the weather in Sevenhill stormed around us. Wednesday was the first night we could set up our telescopes without getting rained on. The evening started out promising, but an hour after sunset the clouds rolled in once again. It was just like our experience in August. But this time, with warmer weather than in August, we stayed outdoors and waited. Christmas carols warbled through the small speakers of my cell phone. My colleague sipped his cup of tea. Through cracks in the clouds, slivers of starlight peeped through, tantalizing us with a promise of what lay … Continue reading →

Three Comet Close Encounters 2017-2018

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Three comets will have close encounters with the Earth over the next 2 years; they are the subject of the 4*P Coma Morphology Campaign, an observing program being run by the Planetary Science Institute. All three comets are very small, ranging in size from 1.2 – 1.4 kilometers in diameter, and are classified as Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) due to their proximity to the Earth. Their comas and tails may not be visible to the naked eye (I hesitate to speculate with them being comets and all…), but they will be observable with binoculars and telescopes, and should be good targets for amateurs and professionals alike. The Planetary Science Institute is running this observing campaign nearly identically to what they carried out for Comet ISON (C/2012 S1); they are requesting un-enhanced continuum (dust) images, as well as gas (e.g., CN) images with good signal-to-noise ratio, More photography requirements and info can be found at the campaign website: http://www.psi.edu/41P45P46P “Observations with sufficient signal-to-noise that could be … Continue reading →

Have You Seen a Satellite?

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Have you ever see a satellite pass overhead? Maybe the International Space Station, or the Hubble Space Telescope? I was at a friend’s home the other day, and mentioned that it was rare for me not to see a satellite during a nighttime observing session – typically within the first half hour. My friend said he’d only seen the International Space Station, once… I was floored! I mentioned this to my wife, and she pointed out to me what should have been obvious to me: that not everyone spends half hour sessions looking at the sky. (Actually, what she lovingly said was “You’re not normal.”) So, with that… there are a LOT of man-made satellites orbiting the Earth; the United States Space Surveillance Network is currently tracking more than 8,000 objects(1). Only seven percent of those objects are operational satellites, the rest is space junk: dead satellites, rocket bodies, and miscellaneous debris. If you go outside on a clear moonless night, … Continue reading →

Open Thread #2: The Messier Marathon

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Lisa Tobias, who also provided our first open thread, expands further on the Messier Marathon that she mentioned there. I know a lot of amateur astronomers and a few professional ones. When you ask, they almost always they’ll you how they have loved the stars since they were kids and how they were so excited when they opened their first telescope box (probably a Wal-Mart special with more power than Galileo ever hoped for). That wasn’t me. I always enjoyed looking at the stars, but that’s all I did. Walking in and out to the car or sitting by the fire at camp; that was enough. I just looked up and imagined. Maybe it was Halley’s Comet that ruined it for me. I was only about 9 when the comet came through, but my school (which was located in the country surrounded by horse farms and corn fields) made a big event to go out and observe the comet. I … Continue reading →