Tag: amateur astronomy

Venus Overtakes Jupiter

I thought I’d use the European racing term more commonly known in the States as ‘passing’ to refer to the progress Venus has made in the predawn sky this past week.

Saturday morning I woke up way too early for a weekend, but remembered reading something about Venus and Jupiter getting closer together.  Without reminding myself by actually looking the information up via Facebook or Twitter or Google, I threw on some clothes, grabbed the keys to one of the vehicles (didn’t care which one) and rushed outside.  It was still very dark, just after five o’clock (Central time zone).  I drove a block up a slight hill to my favorite eastern horizon viewing site (just to the east of Lansing City Hall) and waited … and waited … and waited.  I finally used my smartphone (which I never leave home without) to check when Venus and Jupiter were supposed to rise (using Astronomy.com’s Tonight’s Sky mobile web page).  Continue reading “Venus Overtakes Jupiter”

Moon Passes Near Both Mars and Saturn this Week

Yesterday, I saw a post via Sky & Telescope’s Facebook feed that reminded me to get out my telescope. This week, starting tomorrow, you don’t need a telescope to see something amazing.

Saturday after sunset, look to the south to see the Moon near Mars.

Monday, again after sunset, look a bit farther to the south-east to see the Moon near Saturn.

Here’s a link to Sky & Telescope’s article about the Moon juicing up July:

Two Moon-Planet Conjunctions Juice Up July

But back to my telescope. I know I don’t need it to see the above two events, anyone with eyeballs can observe them. I wanted to get out my telescope and shake off the cobwebs. It’s been a cloudy spring this year, at least on the weekends. I observed Mars first, trying to see the polar ice caps, then I switched to Saturn, where I clearly saw the separation between the rings and the different cloud layers. The angle of the rings with respect to Saturn is spectacular right now.

Find an Island of Stars at Powell Obsevatory Tomorrow Night

A quick shout-out to everyone in the Kansas City metro area to come on down to the Powell Observatory tomorrow night.

Our scheduled program is entitled “Island of Stars” and the weather looks very promising.

I volunteer as part of Team 2 (one of several teams staffed by members of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City).  I’m looking forward to meeting many new people and introducing them to the many wonders of the night sky.

More Powell Observatory Information:

The observatory is staffed by ASKC volunteers and is open to the public every Saturday night from the beginning of May through the end of October. The Star Bright Saturday Night Programs begin at dusk and include program presentations on astronomy, tours of the observatory, and (if the skies are clear) viewing through the various telescopes of the moon, planets, stars, star clusters and more! A donation of $6 per adult and $4 per child is suggested to help support the observatory and allow it to continue operations open to the public.

Hope to see you tomorrow night and always keep looking up!

This year’s best meteor shower prepares to take center stage | Astronomy.com

This year’s best meteor shower prepares to take center stage | Astronomy.com.

Debris from an obscure comet could light up the sky with 100 or more meteors per hour the night of May 23/24.

Astronomers expect the shower to peak sometime between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. EDT the morning of May 24 (11 p.m. to 1 a.m. PDT). This timing works perfectly for observers in the United States and southern Canada. For the best views, find an observing site far from city lights. Light pollution brightens the sky and washes out fainter meteors, lessening the shower’s impact.

The weather forecast for Lansing is dismal.  Cloudy Friday and Saturday, thunderstorms predicted.  Unless I want to take a long long drive somewhere, I won’t get a chance to see this new meteor shower.

Hope you have better luck in your neck of the woods!

Sun Dogs on Snow Day

The day after the Kansas City metro area got nearly a foot of snow dumped on it, I ventured out to return to work.  Most of the local schools and some businesses remained closed that day, but not my employer or the employer of one of my other vanpool riders. On the commute home, I enjoyed watching some sun dogs playing around the sinking sun.  My smartphone camera just doesn’t do them justice:

sun dogs
Click on photo to see rest of Snow Day Sun Dogs album

Faint Comet Found

Just as I was settling down and thinking about making my morning cup of tea, I thought I’d check the eastern sky one last time (see my earlier post about cloud cover on the wrong half of the sky). Surprise!  The clouds disappeared, probably due to the wind advisory we’re still under.  I could barely see the star Spica just breaking through the bare limbs of my neighbor’s trees.

I went back inside and grabbed my binoculars.  I then headed to one of my east-facing second floor bedrooms.  Thanks to my kids, the window in the south room has no screen so I can open it and have a clear view above my neighbor’s rooftops.

Continue reading “Faint Comet Found”

Can’t See Comet for the Clouds

I work up at 4:11 a.m. (Central Time) this morning. It’s a Sunday. Why am I up so early? I have no idea.

Since I was up early, I checked my Sky Safari app on my smartphone to see when Comet Ison would rise. I was in luck. It was scheduled to rise at 4:22, a few minutes before the star Spica.

Continue reading “Can’t See Comet for the Clouds”