Basic astronomy and night sky information
NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured an astonishing series of images of the Moon transiting Earth. In the above animation made from the still images, we see the far side of the Moon, illuminated by the Sun, as the Moon passes across the face of the rotating Earth from a distance of about one million miles [Read more…] about Astonishing View of Moon Transiting Earth
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The Perseid meteor shower, the most reliably active meteor shower of the year, peaks on the night of August 11-12, 2015. The Perseids are a favorite of many stargazers. They happen in the northern summer, which makes for comfortable viewing. They display more bright meteors than most showers, usually about 50-60 per hour. And this year, the nearly-new Moon will not get in this way of the Perseids, so 2015 will be an excellent year to see this meteor shower [Read more…] about A Good Year for the Perseid Meteor Shower
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At the end of July 2015, the little comet C/2015 F4 (Jacques) passes the splendid double star Albireo, the star that marks the nose of Cygnus, the Swan. The comet was discovered on March 27, 2014 by C. Jacques at an observatory in Brazil. The comet is a dim 11th magnitude which makes it a very challenging object for visual observers. It may not get much brighter, but the video below gives you a view of this visitor from the outer solar system.
Comet C/2015 F4 makes its closest approach to the Sun on August 10, 2015 at a distance of 1.64 astronomical units.
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The Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks this year around July 28. This annual event favors observers in the southern hemisphere and southerly latitudes in the northern hemisphere, though all observers can see some of these slow-moving meteors. The meteors of the Delta Aquariids appear to radiate from a point near the star Skat (δ Aquarii) in the constellation Aquarius. The shower peaks around July 27-30, but unlike most meteor showers, the Delta Aquarids lack a sharp peak so meteors are visible from mid-July through early August. The maximum hourly rate can reach 15-20 meteors in a dark sky. Because of their angle of entry into the atmosphere, the Delta Aquariids tend to leave long lingering trails which sets them apart from most other meteors.
It’s still a bit of a mystery as to what causes the Delta Aquariids. Some astronomers suspect the event happens when the Earth passes through a stream of debris left by the periodic Comet 96/P Macholtz. The comet was only discovered in 1986, though the meteor shower has been observed since at least the 1870s.
In late July 2015, near the time of the shower’s peak, a waxing gibbous moon will be out until after midnight. So the skies will be darkest and most favorable for seeing meteors a few hours before dawn as the shower peaks on July 27-30.
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NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft received a final “all clear” as it approaches Pluto at nearly 50,000 km/hr on its way to an historic flyby on July 14, 2015. Mission scientists have been using the spacecraft’s most powerful telescopic camera, the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), to look for potential hazards such as small moons, rings, or dust, since mid-May. But the path looks clear, and the craft will continue on its present course towards Pluto and its five moons.
New color images released July 1 show two very different faces of the dwarf planet. One side of the planet revealed a series of intriguing and evenly-spaced dark spots along the equator. Each spot is about 480 kilometers in diameter with a surface area roughly equal to that of Missouri [Read more…] about The Two Faces of Pluto
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