Basic astronomy and night sky information
The planet Mercury will appear to pass across the face of the Sun on Monday, May 9, 2016. This event, known as a transit, will be visible in a small telescope with a proper solar filter from much of North and South America, Africa, and western Europe. It’s a great opportunity to see the mechanics of the solar system in action and to spot the elusive inner planet as it passes across the blazing solar disk [Read more…] about A Guide to the Transit of Mercury on May 9, 2016
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The constellation Leo is stuffed with galaxies that are visible in a backyard telescope. Three of the brightest and best known are M65, M66, and NGC 3628, also known as the “Leo Triplet”. You can see all three galaxies in virtually any telescope and even in a good pair of binoculars. If you can see all three galaxies at once, keep in mind you’re seeing at one time the collected light of more than half a trillion stars [Read more…] about Galaxy Tour: The Leo Triplet
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In a development that has shocked astrophysicists around the world, the Sun has unexpectedly run out of hydrogen fuel in its core. As gravity squeezed the collapsing core, the dense plasma increased in temperature and ignited helium burning, causing the outer layers to swell into a red giant. Reports suggest the two inner planets, Mercury and Venus, have been swallowed by the expanding star. On Earth, students in the northern hemisphere have been released from school to start summer break early. While astronomers are perplexed, health professionals strongly recommend a thick layer of sunscreen for anyone venturing outside, at least until someone can figure out how to restock the supply of hydrogen gas in the Sun’s core.
In a media report, Professor Cedric Doppleganger, of the California Institute of Astrophysics, said that although the Sun’s sudden expansion violates all known laws of physics, that researchers are undeterred. “It just goes to show that the science of solar physics isn’t so settled after all.”
(On April 2nd and beyond, the above image will be of the setting of a calm main sequence G-type star on a windy evening at Santa Monica Beach, California.)
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The Aurora…As It Actually Appeared from Alan Dyer on Vimeo.
If you live in a subtropical or temperate part of the globe, or if you live in a light-polluted northern or southern metropolis, you may have gone a long time without seeing a live show of the aurorae borealis or australis. So for your viewing pleasure, I present to you in the above video a real-time view of a recent auroral display that shows a very close approximation what of this famous and mesmerizing upper-atmospheric phenomenon looks like when you see it with your own eye [Read more…] about Real-Time Video of Aurorae Borealis
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Eclipse expert Mike Kentrianakis captured this video from a Alaska Airline flight 870 from Anchorage to Honolulu. The flight made a planned diversion to intercept the path of the eclipse in the Pacific just north of Hawaii. From this vantage point, with a clear view of the horizon and well above the clouds, it’s easy to see the Moon’s shadow approaching like a storm from a great distance and at a speed of more than 1,200 mph. During totality, the Sun’s chromosphere and corona become visible, with prominences, streamers, and the usual display of the diamond-ring effect and Baily’s Beads just as the eclipse begins and ends [Read more…] about Video of Solar Eclipse from 35,000 Feet
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