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Astronomy Events – March 2013

February 28, 2013

by yaska77

Well here we are at March already!  Spring is approaching, the days are getting longer and we’re hoping the weather also improves! This month we have the potential of a comet being visible to the naked eye, so read through below for details.

There should be something for everyone to enjoy so keep your eyes on the skies! :)

Monday 4th March – Today is a last quarter Moon and Mercury is in Inferior Conjunction so is not currently visible until towards the end of the month

Tuesday 5th March – The Moon is at Perigee today at a distance of 369,955 km (229,879 miles), the closest point in its orbit to the Earth

Monday 11th March – This evening it’s a New Moon which rises and sets just before the Sun, making it a good time to observe deep sky objects without interference from the Moon’s glare

One such object that looks great through binoculars or a small telescope is M44, the Beehive Cluster (also known as Praesepe)

M44 Beehive Cluster 11032013 2100UTC Sky-Watching.co.uk

Look high to the South around 21:00 UTC and you should be able to spot it! (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

We imaged the Beehive Cluster when Mars was passing in front of it in October 2011, and it looked great! If you’re going to try image this object yourself, why not tweet your results to us on Twitter!

mars-and-the-beehive-cluster

The Beehive Cluster is one of the nearest open clusters to our Solar System, approximately 577 light years away (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

Wednesday 13th March – Discovered in June 2011, Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) reaches Perihelion (its closest approach to the Sun) on 10th March. However, as it is close to our star on this date our best chance of spotting it is from 12th March onwards as it moves away into twilight skies

On 13th March it will appear below the crescent Moon soon after sunset

Friday 15th March – Appearing slightly higher in the sky than on the 13th, the position of Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) is shown below. Should it have developed a tail it will point towards the Moon, and if predictions prove true should be visible to the naked eye!

Comet PANSTARRS 15032013 1900UTC Sky-Watching.co.uk

Shown above at 19:00 UTC close to the Western horizon on 15th March, comet PANSTARRS will appear higher each day, but will also diminish in brightness (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Sunday 17th March – Tonight’s Moon is seen in the First Quarter phase

Tuesday 19th March – Today the Moon is at Apogee at a distance of 404,260 km (251196 miles), the farthest point in its orbit to the Earth

Wednesday 20th March – Today is the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere

Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) should be visible in slightly darker skies after 19:30 UTC, and we are praying for good weather (and to find a flat Western horizon with less light pollution) so we can try and image it! Exciting!

Comet PANSTARRS 20032013 1930UTC Sky-Watching.co.uk

If you look from the middle of the W shaped constellation Cassiopeia and through the Andromeda galaxy you should find the comet just above the horizon, as shown above at 19:30 UTC (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

By the end of the month (and into April) it will appear just below the Andromeda galaxy

Wednesday 27th March – The Full Moon this evening is also sometimes called the Fish Moon, Sleepy Moon or Chaste Moon

Thursday 28th March – The planet Venus is in Superior Conjunction, and Uranus is in conjunction with the Sun

Sunday 31st March – British Summer Time (BST) begins, with the clocks going forward one hour at 01:00 UTC (becoming 02:00 BST).  The Moon is also at Perigee for the second time this month today at a distance of 367,495 km (228,351 miles), and Mercury is at its greatest Western Elongation meaning it may be visible in the Eastern sky before sunrise

Planets visible this month:

Mercury
Jupiter
Saturn

Remember, it can take your eyes up to 20 minutes to become properly dark adapted, and anything up to an hour for a telescope to reach ambient temperature outside (to ensure the best image), so give yourself plenty of time to get set up!

To make it easier to find this list of astronomical happenings you can also locate it in the “Monthly Guide” section in the menu bar to the right. Handy! :)

Guide images created with Stellarium

Archive:
Astronomy Events – February 2013
Astronomy Events – January 2013
Astronomy Events – December 2012

Posted in Astronomy, Comet, Moon, Night sky, Planets, Resources, Space, Stars, Supernova, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

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Astronomy Events – February 2013

February 1, 2013

by yaska77

A new month is upon us which means as usual we’ve highlighted below some great astronomical events throughout February to keep your eyes on the skies!

There should be something below for everyone to enjoy :)

Sunday 3rd February – Today is a last quarter Moon

Thursday 7th February – The Moon is at Perigee today at a distance of 365,315 km (226,996 miles), the closest point in its orbit to the Earth

Friday 8th February – Planets Mercury and Mars appear in conjunction this evening, low down towards the west at sunset (shown below at 17:30 UTC)

Mars Mercury Conjunction 08022013 17.30 UTC (Sky-Watching.co.uk)

The conjunction of Mars and Mercury on the 8th of February could be a great photo target, if your western horizon is flat enough! (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Sunday 10th February – This evening it’s a New Moon which rises and sets with the Sun. This makes it a good time to observe deep sky objects like M1 (the Crab Nebula), a supernova remanant in the constellation of Taurus

m1-crab-nebula-sky-watching

Located about 6,500 light years from Earth, the supernova that created the Crab Nebula was recorded by Arab, Chinese and Japanese astronomers in 1054 and was visible during the day! (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

To help you find it we’ve added a location guide below, shown due south at 20:00 UTC on 10th February. The nebula can be found directly up from the “head” of Orion and to the left of Jupiter

M1 Crab Nebula location 10022013 20.00 UTC (Sky-Watching.co.uk)

Draw a line from the southern horizon up through the “head” of Orion at 20:00 UTC to help find M1 (The Crab Nebula) in the constellation Taurus (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Friday 15th February – Near Earth Asteroid 2012 DA14 passes close by the Earth today at a distance of around 34,100 km (21,189 miles) and may be visible through good binoculars or a small telescope

Best spotted soon after it appears over the eastern horizon around 20:00 UTC, keep an eye out for a star like object that moves over the course of a few minutes

Look for it directly below the star Denebola (the end of the tail of the constellation Leo) around 20:00 UTC and you should be able to find it!

Asteroid 2012 DA14 1502103 20.00UTC (Sky-Watching.co.uk)

Brightest as it appears across the horizon, 2012 DA14 will get fainter as the evening progresses (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

The asteroid may disappear from view for around 18 minutes as it passes through the Earth’s shadow, within the ring of geosynchronous satellites around our equator

You can track the asteroid live from 19:00 UTC at the NASA JPL Video feed by clicking here

Saturday 16th February – The planet Mercury is at its Greatest Eastern Elongation today, meaning it’s a good opportunity to see it after sunset low down to the west

Sunday 17th February – This evening sees a First Quarter Moon

Monday 18th February – The waxing gibbous Moon and Jupiter are companions all day today. Rising just after noon the planet should be visible near the Moon with either binoculars or a good zoom lens. Then in the evening both can be found between the bright star Aldebaran in the Hyades cluster, and the nearby Pleiades cluster, shown below at 20:00 UTC

Waxing Gibbous Moon with Jupiter 18022013 20.00 UTC (Sky-Watching.co.uk)

Close to both Hyades and Pleiades clusters, the Moon and Jupiter should make a good image target this evening (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Tuesday 19th February – Today the Moon is at Apogee at a distance of 404,575 km (251,391 miles), the farthest point in its orbit to the Earth

Thursday 21st February – Neptune is in conjunction with the Sun

Monday 25th February – The Full Moon this evening is also sometimes called the Storm Moon, Hunger Moon or Candles Moon

Planets visible this month:

Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

Remember, it can take your eyes up to 20 minutes to become properly dark adapted, and anything up to an hour for a telescope to reach ambient temperature outside (to ensure the best image), so give yourself plenty of time to get set up!

To make it easier to find this list of astronomical happenings you can also locate it in the “Monthly Guide” section in the menu bar to the right. Handy! :)

Guide images created with Stellarium

Archive:
Astronomy Events – January 2013
Astronomy Events – December 2012
Astronomy Events – November 2012

Posted in Asteroid, Astronomy, Moon, Nebula, Night sky, Planets, Resources, Space, Stars, Supernova, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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Astronomy Advent Calendar – 7th December

December 7, 2011

by yaska77

The Chandra X-Ray observatory provides the latest image in our ongoing astronomy advent calendar count-down.

Space continues to give us weird and wonderful sights. We love this stuff!

Day 7

Astronomy Advent Calendar 7th December - This SNR resembles a smoke filled bubble! (click to enlarge) - Credit: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/K.Eriksen et al & DSS

Pictured above is a Chandra image of the SNR (supernova remnant) of Tycho, a white dwarf star in our own galaxy in the constellation Cassiopiea (visible from the Northern Hemisphere).

It’s expanding out from the blast location at thousands of kilometers per second (measured at around 55 light years across), all from an explosion that gave off more energy than our Sun will over its entire life!

Fascinating :)

View yesterday’s image

Posted in Astronomy, Chandra, Night sky, Supernova, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Astronomy Events – September 2011

September 1, 2011

by yaska77

Here is a list of upcoming Astronomy events for September. Night clouds all but ruined most viewing in August, however we did have some successes!

Friday 2nd September – Looking south, Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd passes in between the easily indentifiable stars Vega and Altair (and directly below Albireo), just south of Brocchi’s Cluster over the next 3 evenings. Also known as the Coathanger Cluster, it resembles an upside down coathanger and the comet will almost pass parallel to the line of the “hanger” part, just below the hook (which it is closest to on the 3rd)

Comet Garradd position on 2nd, 3rd and 4th September, below Albireo (click to enlarge) - Credit: Stellarium/Sky-Watching

Saturday 3rd September – Mercury is at its greatest western elongation, meaning it will rise (and should be visible) just before the Sun early morning

Sunday 4th September – First Quarter Moon. The recently discovered supernova in M101 (the Pinwheel Galaxy, in the Plough constellation) should be visible through binoculars over coming days. Click here for a guide to locating M101!

Thursday 8th September – NASA is due to launch the twin Grail spacecraft to the Moon, where they will map the gravity field and provide details about the inner core. Grail will launch on a Delta II rocket, to be covered on NASA TV. There are two launch windows at 08:37 and 09:16 EDT (13:37 BST and 14:16 BST), but the launch period extends through to 19th October, with launch times occurring around 4 minutes earlier each day

Using precision formation-flying, the GRAIL spacecraft will map the moon's gravity field (artist's rendering) - Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Monday 12th September – The Full Moon tonight is also known as the Harvest or Wine Moon. Due to its tilted orbit the Moon in September runs roughly parallel to the horizon, and rises around the same time for consecutive evenings (18:38 BST on 11th, 18:55 BST on 12th and 19:12 BST on 13th)

Thursday 15th September – Moon at Apogee (the point of its orbit farthest away from the Earth) 406,065 km

Tuesday 20th September – Last Quarter Moon. Jupiter (which is present in the night sky all month) rises at 20:20 BST, about 3 hours before the Moon. A truly beautiful sight through a telescope, we’re hoping to get a better look (and take some more images) this month

Our image of Jupiter taken on 21st September 2010, we're hoping to get more pics this year (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

Friday 23rd September – Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere (at 09:04 GMT). Equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is inclined neither toward or away from the Sun (the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth’s equator), so day and night are about the same length. This near equilibrium is referred to as the Equilux, where night and day are closest to being 12 hours each (and occurs over 24-25th September)

Sunday 25th September – The gas giant Uranus is at its closest to the Earth today (this year) and should be visible to an unaided eye if your skies are dark enough. Found in the constellation Pisces, Uranus is the only planet to orbit the Sun on its side (possibly the result of a collision in its infancy) and at last count had 27 Moons!

Uranus is closest to Earth this year on 25th September (guide above at 23:30 BST) Click to enlarge - Credit: Stellarium/Sky-Watching

Tuesday 27th September – New Moon, a great time to observe deep sky objects without disruption

Wednesday 28th September – Moon at Perigee, the closest point to Earth in it’s orbit (357,560 km)

We’re hoping to finally get a look at Comet Garradd this month, re-image Jupiter and have a look for the new supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy! Rather ambitious given our luck this year with the weather, but we’ll see!

Remember, it can take your eyes up to 20 minutes to become properly dark adapted, and anything up to an hour for a telescope to reach ambient temperature outside (to ensure the best image), so give yourself plenty of time to get set up!

We recently added the “Monthly Guide” section in the menu bar to the right (where this guide will appear), so next time you visit you can find it again easily!

Guide images created with Stellarium

Archive:
Astronomy Events – August 2011
Astronomy Events – July 2011
Astronomy Events – June 2011

Posted in Astronomy, Galaxy, Jupiter, Mercury, Moon, NASA, Night sky, Resources, Stars, Supernova, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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New Supernova spotted in nearby galaxy

August 30, 2011

by yaska77

A new supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) has been observed by astronomers at Oxford University. Dubbed PTF11kly, it will get brighter over the coming days making it visible through a good pair of binoculars.

M101 and PTF11kly as imaged by the Faulkes Telescope (click to enlarge) - Credit: D. Andrew Howell & BJ Fulton (LCOGT) et al., Faulkes Telescope North, LCOGT

The team lead by Dr Mark Sullivan made the discovery using a robotic telescope at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California.

“The most exciting thing is that this is what’s known as a type 1a supernova – the kind we use to measure the expansion of the Universe. Seeing one explode so close by allows us to study these events in unprecedented detail” said Dr Sullivan.

A Supernova occurs when a star reaches the end of its life, collapsing in on itself before exploding out into space, in an event that can be so bright as to even outshine an entire galaxy.

You can find M101 in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear), for a guide to finding this constellation click on the image below.

M101 location above the handle of The Plough (Big Dipper), part of Ursa Major (click to enlarge) - Credit: Stellarium/Sky-Watching

The last time a supernova of this type was observed so close was 1972.

Sky-Watching will be trying to get a look at this bright new addition to the night sky, if we get a decent clear evening or two over the coming week!

Source: BBC Science/NASA Apod

Posted in Astronomy, Galaxy, Supernova, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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