Tag Archives: Sunspot

In the Sky This Week – November 3, 2020

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This entry is part 171 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

The sample head overflowing with bits of asteroid Bennu has been safely stowed in the return capsule of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft – I can stop waving my hands frantically and breathe a bit easier! Now, I have to hurry-up-and-wait for launch windows and the time-consuming interplanetary Hohmann orbital mechanics before that sample is returned to Earth in 2023.Like Douglas Adams said: “Space is Big!” I REALLY want a piece of Bennu; I asked Dolores Hill several questions about a possible privately-funded sample return mission with a larger sample head. Dolores said “A huge sampling head may or may not be helpful. If ours had been too big, it would have made it harder to locate a large enough, safe site. A larger head would be heavier – require more gas to flow through it, etc. But, who knows, the engineers know how to scale up. Almost anything is possible given enough resources. Regarding paying for itself…”In my opinion, it would … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – January 22, 2019

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This entry is part 80 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

Back in Michigan and recovered from my trip to Tucson to help with Vatican Observatory Foundation’s 2019 Faith and Astronomy Workshop (#FAWVOF), only to be thrust into face-biting arctic-like conditions for the total lunar eclipse on Jan. 20th. The shape of the weeks-long conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and the star Antares in the southeastern predawn changes drastically this week, as Venus moves away from Jupiter and Antares. Venus appears to move away from Jupiter, and Saturn appears a little higher each morning. Venus was simply brilliant all week at the FAW! You may note how it’s getting just a little brighter each morning at 7:00 AM; this fact is not missed by my parrots – who scream for attention at the first hint of morning’s light. A waning gibbous Moon appears near the star Regulus in the predawn sky on Jan. 22nd and 23rd. An almost third quarter moon appears near the star Spica high in the southwestern predawn sky on Jan. 26th. … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – May 22, 2018

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This entry is part 45 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

Jupiter has almost left the morning sky; Mars and Saturn are slowly making their way southward. I was a bit surprised to catch a flyover of the International Space Station when I copied this image from Stellarium! Jupiter is in the southeastern sky after sunset, and is a great observing target. The Moon The Moon is at first quarter on the 22nd, and then a waxing gibbous until full on the 29th. This whole week will be great for observing the moon through telescopes. The Moon is in the southwestern sky after sunset for the next few days. The Sun We have a spot! Active Region (AR) 2710 is rotating into view on the Sun – it’s so small it may be difficult to see through telescopes for a few days. AR2710 has a lot of coronal loop activity above it (left side of video), and coronal holes remain at both poles. Surprisingly, there are no Earthward facing coronal holes along … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – February 13, 2018

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This entry is part 35 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

Yesterday before dawn, while breathing in the smell of brewing coffee, I saw through my kitchen window a thin waning crescent Moon with earthshine; my wife said she saw it on her way to work, and it was just beautiful! This morning, the Moon was lower in the southeastern sky, and Saturn, Mars and Jupiter are spread across the southern sky. The stars Antares and Spica will be accompanying Mars and Jupiter for the next several weeks in the southern predawn sky. Before dawn, the “W” of Cassiopeia is low in the northern sky. After sunset, Ursa Major and the “Big Dipper” are low in the northern sky. After sunset, Orion and Canis Major – with the bright star Sirius, are in the southern sky. If you arrive home shortly after midnight, Ursa Major, Leo and Gemini will be directly overhead. Shortly after midnight, Orion, Canis Major and Taurus will be setting in the west. The Moon The Moon is a … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – February 6, 2018

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This entry is part 34 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and the bright stars Antares and Spica all adorn the southern predawn sky. The Moon will be joining the party for the next several days – appearing near Jupiter on the 7th, between Jupiter and Mars on the 8th, and close to Mars on the 9th. This same region of the sky looks very different when viewed from the southern hemisphere; the image below is seen from the perspective of the Perth Observatory in Australia. The Moon The Moon put on a great show during the total lunar eclipse last week; Jason Major took this beautiful moonrise eclipse image: The Moon is a waning gibbous and will be at third quarter on the 7th. The Moon rises around midnight, and sets around noon. This weekend the Moon will be a waning crescent, rising a few hours before dawn, and setting in the afternoon. The Sun The Sun has a spot! A rather large and enthusiastic spot – … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – January 30, 2018

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This entry is part 33 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are all visible in the southern predawn sky; the gap between Mars and Jupiter growing as Mars gets closer to Saturn each morning. Southern sky before dawn, Jan. 30, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley. The Moon The Moon will be full on the 31st, and with it will come a total lunar eclipse. The total phase of this lunar eclipse will be visible in large parts of US, Russia, Asia, northeastern Europe, the Indian Ocean, Australia, and the Pacific. Hawaii will get an almost perfect view of totality. I couldn’t agree more with this Wired article about the over-use of media-hyped terms for astronomical events like this eclipse. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons.” Sunlight gets filtered and refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere; when the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow, it takes on a red-orangeish hue. A Supermoon is when the full Moon is at perigee (its closest approach to Earth). The Moon … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – January 23, 2018

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This entry is part 3 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

In the southern predawn sky, Mars and Jupiter continue to separate after their recent conjunction; Mars will slowly make its way southeast towards Saturn over the next several weeks. Saturn will get higher in the southeastern predawn sky with each passing morning. The Moon The Moon is a waxing crescent, visible in the southwestern sky at dusk, and setting around midnight.   The Moon will be at first-quarter on the 24th, and will be a waxing gibbous for the rest of the week, heading toward full on the 31st. The Moon will be a great observing target this week. On January 31st there will be a total lunar eclipse – this will be the first Blue Moon eclipse in 150 years! The Sun The Sun is spot-free, which was a shame last weekend – I set up my telescopes at ConFusion – a Science Fiction convention in the Metro-Detroit area. I’ve been bringing my telescopes to these conventions for several years now, and … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – January 16, 2018

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This entry is part 4 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

The megaconjunction of Mars-Jupiter and Mercury-Saturn in the southeastern predawn sky comes to an end as Mercury pulls away from Saturn, disappearing into the light of the dawn. Jupiter and Mars slowly separate over the coming weeks; Mars getting lower in the sky as Jupiter journeys southward. The new Moon will be on the Jan. 17th. A waxing crescent Moon will be in the west-southwestern skies this weekend at dusk, setting a few hours after sunset. I’m really hoping the sky is clear this weekend as I’ll be attending ConFusion – a Science Fiction convention, and bringing my telescopes; I always seem to get blamed for “bringing cloudy skies with my telescope…” The Sun The Sun has 1 medium-sized sunspot, with some coronal loops associated with it. The Sun’s corona, seen here in extreme ultraviolet, reveals a weak northern coronal hole, and a small hole at the southern pole. There is, however, a mid-latitude coronal hole that pouring the solar wind out right at … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – January 9, 2018

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This entry is part 6 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

Jupiter and Mars continue their predawn dance in the southeastern sky, getting a bit farther away from each other with each morning. Saturn joins Mercury very low in the southeastern sky just before sunrise. Slowly over this week, Saturn and Mercury will swap positions in a dance of their own. A waning crescent Moon joins Jupiter and Mars’ predawn dance on the 11th, appearing only 3°39′ away from Mars. The Moon will appear lower in the southeastern sky, getting closer to Mercury and Saturn each morning; it may be too thin and low in the sky to be seen on the 15th. On the 13th, Mercury and Saturn will be separated by only 0°45′ of arc! And they will joined by the waning crescent Moon, and the red giant star Antares adds flavor to what must certainly be considered a multi-day “Megaconjunction” with the Sun, Saturn, Mercury, the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter all in the southeastern sky at the same time. The … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – January 3, 2018

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This entry is part 11 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mercury rises shortly before the dawn, appearing low in the southeastern sky. Jupiter and Mars are only 1° 38′ apart – practically on top of each other! 1° is about the width of your little finger held at arm’s length. Compare the image above with the solar system image at the bottom of this post to see how Jupiter and Mars line up in relation to the Earth. A waning gibbous Moon, one day past full sets in the west with the dawn. After sunset in the east, Taurus and the Pleiades are already high in the sky, and Orion is just above the horizon. Orion is visible most of the night, setting in the west around 4:00 AM. The Sun The Sun has no spots, and has been completely devoid of sunspots for 6 days now. The solar wind speed is 377 km/sec, with a density of 6 protons/cm3 – lower speeds, and slightly more dense than in my last In the Sky … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week- December 19, 2017

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This entry is part 12 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mercury rises with the dawn, low in the southeastern sky. Jupiter, Mars and the star Spica are aligned almost in a straight line in the predawn sky. A thin waxing crescent Moon appears at dusk in the southwest on 21st. The Moon with be at first quarter on Christmas; all week long would be a great time to set up your telescope and show the Moon to family, friends and neighbors during this holiday season! The Sun One tiny little sunspot, and that’s all folks! Click the image below to see a larger version at the Solar Dynamics Observatory site, then scroll way over to the upper-left to find the sunspot. If you click the image above, in the close-up view you will notice grainy … somethings on the Sun – these are called granules. “Granules are small (about 1000 km across) cellular features that cover the entire Sun except for those areas covered by sunspots. These features are the tops of … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week- November 28, 2017

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This entry is part 16 of 174 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars is in conjunction with the star Spica for the next couple weeks, and Jupiter rises a bit earlier each morning in the eastern predawn sky. You might catch a short glimpse of Venus as it rises shortly before the Sun. For an observing challenge, see if you can spot the zodiacal light in the eastern sky a few hours before dawn; use Mars and Spica as a guide – you’ll need to be in a dark sky location. The light of the waxing gibbous Moon will make Uranus a poor observing target – the Moon, however, should be a great observing target all week long. The Moon will be full on Dec. 3rd. For an observing challenge, see if you can spot Saturn and Mercury in the southwestern sky at 5:30 PM – look quick, you’ll only have a few minutes to see them before they set! The Sun Sunspots come and go – last week one vanished from … Continue reading →