Brian Ventrudo

See Mercury in the Eastern Sky

July 1, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Mercury in the pre-dawn sky in early July 2015. The planet is brighter than any star in the area, and lies near the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters.

Early risers can spot the planet Mercury low on the eastern horizon before sunrise in early July 2015. The planet shines at an impressive magnitude -1.5, brighter than any star, but it’s low on the horizon and somewhat diminished by the brightening predawn sky. The bright orange-giant star Aldebaran is nearby Mercury, as are the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. A pair of binoculars will help pull these stars out of the sky glow.

Mercury moves back towards the horizon for most of July and gets even harder to see. If you’re up for a challenge, have a look for the planet Mars, which will be much fainter than Mercury, just 0.1º to the north on July 16. You will need binoculars or a small scope and a clear view down to the eastern horizon to see these two small worlds.

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Watch an Exoplanet Transit a Star

July 1, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Science

alien-planet-583719_12801 On June 27, the astronomers at Slooh.com and the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), home of the largest telescope on Earth, presented a live observation of an exoplanet passing across the face of its home star. It was the first live broadcast of such an event, and was sufficiently extraordinary that the King of Spain was in attendance to inaugurate the telescopes before the show [Read more…] about Watch an Exoplanet Transit a Star

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Close Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on June 30, 2015

June 24, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent Moon in the western sky after sunset on June 19, 2015. The two bright planets will come within 0.3 degrees of each other on June 30, 2015.

The bright planets Venus and Jupiter have been moving closer together for weeks, and on June 30, 2015, they make their closest approach when they pass less than a full-Moon-width from each other in the western sky after sunset. This beautiful conjunction of two bright planets is an ideal time for a photo-op and an great opportunity to see the clockwork motion of the solar system in action.

The two planets will fit together in the same low-power field of view in a telescope, and remarkably, they will appear the same size. Venus is a tiny crescent, bright and featureless, while Jupiter displays cloud bands and its four biggest moons. While each spans about 32 arc-seconds in apparent size, in real terms Jupiter is 12x larger and 12x farther away. If the skies are in your favor, wander out and see this remarkable conjunction in the western sky after sunset on June 30 and July 1. It’s visible from the northern and southern hemispheres.

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Aurorae at Summer Solstice

June 24, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Stargazing

(The Great Solstice Aurora from Alan Dyer on Vimeo).

The Sun flared late last week and sent a series of coronal mass ejections in our direction. The high-speed charged particles smacked into the Earth’s upper atmosphere on June 22, 2015, and ignited aurorae borealis as far south as Georgia and Virginia, for example. The deep-southern hemisphere had fine shows of aurorae australis as well. If you missed these splendid vistas, the striking timelapse by astrophotographer Alan Dyer will give you a taste of the intensity and color of the display. Dyer is a master of nightscape and timelapse photography, and when he learned of the possibility of a striking auroral display, he packed his equipment and set to work. He wrote of his impromptu timelapse project on the night of summer solstice: [Read more…] about Aurorae at Summer Solstice

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Best Nightscape Images of 2015

June 18, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video

This video shows the best images of the 6th International Earth and Sky Photo Contest, a program by The World at Night (TWAN) in collaboration with the Global Astronomy Month and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). The contest aims to show the natural beauty of starry sky and help preserve the dark skies which are not yet polluted by artificial lights. The images in this video are copyrighted by the photographers. Click on the video, maximize the window size, switch on HD, and enjoy…

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