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Solar System Observing

Articles about how to understand, find and see solar system objects including planets, the Moon, the Sun, asteroids, meteors, and comets with binoculars, telescopes, and the naked eye.

Live Stream and Resources for the Total Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024

March 31, 2024 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

The ‘Diamond Ring’ emerges just as totality ends on August 21, 2017. Image credit: Amanda Ventrudo.

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will pass in a narrow band across Mexico, the continental United States, and southeastern Canada. Millions of people live within a day’s drive of the narrow path of this eclipse, so it may be one of the most watched astronomical events in history. If you’re heading to the path of totality, or if you’re planning to observe the partial solar eclipse off the path of the lunar umbra, I wish you safe travels and clear skies! And if you’re not traveling, or if you’re facing clouds, or you simply want to know what’s happening with this rare celestial event, here are a few resources and readings about this eclipse and solar eclipses in general. [Read more…] about Live Stream and Resources for the Total Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024

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Filed Under: Solar System

The Full Moon Occults Mars at Opposition

November 30, 2022 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Mars approaches a grazing lunar occultation on September 5, 2020. Image courtesy of Delberson Tiago de Souza at Astrobin under the Creative Commons License.

Set a reminder – and hope for clear sky – on the night of December 7-8 as a remarkable event takes place – a full December ‘Cold Moon’ passing in front of Mars just two hours before the planet reaches opposition. The event is visible through parts of western Europe, Canada, and the U.S. except for the eastern seaboard, the southeast, and Alaska. You can see the event without optics, with binoculars, or the telescope of your choice. It will be an astronomical event to remember [Read more…] about The Full Moon Occults Mars at Opposition

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Filed Under: Solar System mars

Waning October Moon and Autumn Leaves

October 12, 2022 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

The waning Moon on October 12, 2022 just three days past the full “Hunter’s Moon”. The fall colors linger as the trees slowly shut down their chlorophyll production, revealing the orange and yellow carotenes in their aging leaves. At the next full “Beaver Moon” on November 8, these trees will very likely find themselves covered with snow. This image was captured on Kodak Ektar 100 film with an old Nikon FE camera and Nikon Series E 75-150mm zoom lens, both circa 1980. There’s no school like the old school.

Autumn wind clear
Autumn moon bright,

Fallen leaves gather in piles then scatter,
And crows settling in, cold, startle away.

Will we ever see, ever even think of each other again?
This night, this moment: impossible to feel it all.

Poem by Li Po (c. 701-762 A.D.), translation by David Hinton

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Filed Under: Solar System

Last Gasp of a Big Solar Prominence

August 30, 2022 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Full-disk image of the Sun in H-alpha on August 30, 2022 at 15:57UTC.

The Sun kicked it into high gear this week! A few big prominences emerged, especially a towering tornado-shaped construct on the southern solar limb. I just managed to catch the tail-end of it this morning as the Sun cleared the trees at my observing location. Took a few images of the prom, went for a cup of coffee, came back to the telescope, and – POOF! – it was gone. South is up in this image, captured with a Lunt 60MT H-alpha solar telescope and Player One Apollo-M Mini camera.

 

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Filed Under: Solar System h-alpha, solar

The Sun Awakens

May 27, 2022 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

An image of the Sun captured with an H-alpha solar telescope on May 22, 2022. Prominences and filaments are visible on the right edge of the solar disk. Sunspot groups are visible in the lower center and lower right part of the image. Image credit: Brian Ventrudo.

Solar observers haven’t had much to see on and around the Sun in the past several years. But that’s starting to change as our home star begins to show signs of activity in the form of increasing sunspot numbers and other dynamic features as a new solar cycle – number 25 – gets underway.

So, what’s a solar cycle? [Read more…] about The Sun Awakens

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Filed Under: Solar System solar

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