Clouds have been a perpetual feature during the hours of darkness for what seems like weeks now.  But with a new dose of optimism and an urge to get imaging again, here’s our guide to a fresh new month of heavenly happenings!

What are you most looking forward to?

Saturday 1st June - Twilight trio Mercury, Venus and Jupiter will form a straight line to the west-northwest after sunset this evening

Shown below at 20.30 UTC (21:30 BST), if your horizon is flat enough this will be a great target for some photographs!

Such a twilight alignment could provide a great opportunity for some photos! Shown to the northwest at 21:30 BST (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Tuesday 4th June – The ISS (International Space Station) is back in UK evening skies again at the moment. Check heavens-above.com for exact times and dates for your location, but the pass starting at 00:23 (BST) this evening is going to be particularly bright (-3.5 mag) and fairly high overhead

If your skies are clear you won’t be able to miss it rising from the west-southwest, shining brightly as it reflects the Sun before setting to the east 6-7 minutes later.  It still amazes me to think they pass over at about 17,240 mph

Us humans can be pretty damn ingenious when we put our minds to something!

The ISS with Saturn and Porrima bottom right of centre from June 2011 – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

Saturday 8th June – This evening sees a New Moon, a good time for observing deep sky objects usually affected by moonlight

Sunday 9th June – The Moon is at Apogee today at a distance of 406,485 km (252,578 miles), the farthest point out in its orbit around the Earth

Wednesday 12th June – Mercury appears at Greatest Eastern Elongation today, so should be visible low down in the north western sky just after sunset

Noctilucent clouds as captured over Sweden, see below (click to enlarge) – Credit: P-M Hedén

Saturday 15th June – This is the time of year to be looking for noctilucent clouds (above), which sometimes appear low down in the northwest (after sunset) and northeast (just before sunrise)

These clouds are in the upper atmosphere and are usually too faint to see, becoming visible only when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the lower layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth’s shadow

Sunday 16th June – Tonight the Moon is at First Quarter phase

A daytime First Quarter Moon we photographed in April 2012 (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

Wednesday 19th June – Gas giant Jupiter is in Conjunction with the Sun today, meaning it will not be visible for the next couple of weeks when it will reappear in the morning sky before sunrise at the beginning of July

To the southwest around midnight this evening (23:00 UTC/00:00 BST on 20th June) Saturn appears surrounded closely by five of its moons. A clear sky will allow you to see Dione, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys and Rhea. Further out you should also catch a glimpse of Titan, Iapetus and Hyperion (see below)

Often elusive moons Mimas and Enceladus of Saturn are well placed for observation this evening (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

You can get a closer look at Saturn‘s diverse moons in the gallery below!

I love the ones that look like the Death Star

Friday 21st June – Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere

Sunday 23rd June – This morning’s Full Moon is also sometimes known as the Rose Moon, Planting Moon or Flying Fish Moon

Today it is also seen at Perigee at a distance of 356,990 km (221,823 miles), the closest point of its orbit to the Earth and the closest it will come all year, so it will appear slightly larger than usual

Sunday 30th June – Today’s morning Moon will be at Last Quarter phase; and Neptune, Uranus and Mars will also be visible appearing in sequence early morning through until sunrise

Planets visible this month:

Jupiter
Saturn
Venus
Mercury
Neptune
Uranus
Mars

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 – May 2013
Astronomy Events – April 2013
Astronomy Events – March 2013

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Hot on the heels of an unexpected break in the weather (allowing us to see April’s partial eclipse of the Moon) we’re eager to get stuck in to another new month of astronomical events!

Now spring has finally arrived in the UK we’re hoping to be able to get some new images to show you, and if you get any snaps yourself please feel free to tweet them to us.  Is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to?

Thursday 2nd May – The Moon is at Last Quarter phase today

Monday 6th May – The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks early this morning (01:30 UTC/02:30 BST) with an expected ZHR of 10 meteors per hour as viewed from the UK (observers from more southern latitudes could see up to 55 per hour).  Appearing to originate from the constellation Aquarius (hence the name), Aquarids are known for bright tails left by fast moving meteors

Shown above at 02:30 UTC/03:30 BST on 6th May, the Aquarid meteor shower will be active from the end of April until the end of May (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Thursday 9th – Friday 10th May – An annular solar eclipse occurs today when the Moon’s apparent diameter is smaller than that of the Sun (blocking most of its light) which causes it to look like a ring (or annulus)

This type of eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region thousands of kilometres wide, and will be visible from northern Australia and the southern Pacific Ocean, with the maximum of just over 6 minutes visible from the Pacific Ocean east of French Polynesia

The eclipse begins at 21:25:10 UTC

Friday 10th May – Today sees a New Moon so now is a good time for observing deep sky objects usually affected by moonlight

Saturday 11th May – Bright planets Venus and Jupiter flank the Moon just after sunset.  Shown below at 19:45 UTC/ 20:45 BST, if your NW horizon is flat enough this could be a great target for some photos!

Jupiter, the Moon and Venus all pay Taurus a visit soon after sunset this evening, look WNW and see if you can spot them! (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

The planet Mercury is also in Superior conjunction today, so is unobservable until later in the month

Monday 13th May – The Moon is at Apogee today at a distance of 405,825 km (252,168 miles), the farthest point in its orbit from the Earth

Saturday 18th May – This morning the Moon is at First Quarter phase

Saturday 25th May – Today’s Full Moon will experience another penumbral eclipse (where it skims the edge of the Earth’s shadow), this time however it will be virtually imperceptible unlike the partial eclipse witnessed on 25th April

In April the Full Moon also experienced penumbral eclipse, shown above at 20:22 UTC (21:22 BST) with the Earth’s shadow visible across the northern edge (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

May’s Full Moon is also sometimes known as the Milk Moon, Dragon Moon or Hare Moon

Sunday 26th May – Soon after twilight this evening the planets Jupiter, Mercury and Venus should be visible forming an equilateral triangle to the WNW (West North-West)

Forming an equilateral triangle in the twilight sky, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus appear close to each other just after sunset on 26th May, as shown at 20:15 UTC/21:15 BST (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

These planets will be near neighbours from 23rd to 31st of this month, but appear closest together this evening

And today the Moon is at Perigee at a distance of 358,375 km (222,684 miles), the closest point of its orbit to the Earth

Friday 31st May – Tonight sees the Moon at Last Quarter phase; and twilight planets Jupiter, Mercury and Venus appear aligned soon after sunset

Planets visible this month:

Jupiter
Saturn
Venus
Mercury

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 – April 2013
Astronomy Events – March 2013
Astronomy Events – February 2013

Follow @sky_watching

Iconic image of ESA’s Herschel space observatory set against a background of stellar nursery W40, 1000 light-years away in the constellation Aquila. Image credit: ESA and SPIRE & PACS consortia, Ph. André (CEA Saclay) for Gould’s Belt Key Programme Consortia

ESA’s Herschel space observatory has as planned exhausted  its supply of liquid helium coolant forcing its optics offline. In effect, Herschel has gone blind which ends over three years of pioneering observations of the cool Universe.  Herschel was Launched in May 2009 and, with a primary mirror 3.5 m across, is/was the largest, most powerful infrared telescope flown in space.

Herschel observed near-infrared and sub-millimeter wavelengths that are abundant inside star-forming nebulae and young galaxies.  Running out of coolant has declared the mission officially over.  In order to be sensitive to the extreme wavelengths Herschel  needed to be cooled to near-absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius or -459 F).

The space telescope was the most advanced of its kind making groundbreaking discoveries of the nature of our universe.  Although Herschel has died, other observatories are geared to observe in the sane wavelengths.  In Chile the ground-based ALMA array is now online and is able to access sub-millimeter wavelengths with the 747-mounted SOFIA telescope accessing near-infrared wavelengths.

So in three years how much data did Herschel collect.  “Herschel has exceeded all expectations, providing us with an incredible treasure trove of data that will keep astronomers busy for many years to come,” says Prof. Alvaro Giménez, ESA’s Director of Science and Robotic Exploration.

The figures are impressive.  Herschel has made over 35000 scientific observations, gathering more than 25000 hours of data from about 600 observing programmes with a further 2000 hours of calibration observations also contributing to the dataset.

“Although this is the end of Herschel observing, it is certainly not the end of the mission – there are plenty more discoveries to come,” says Dr Pilbratt.

“We will now concentrate on making our data accessible in the form of the best possible maps, spectra and various catalogues to support the work of present and future astronomers. Nevertheless we’re sad to see the end of this phase: thank you, Herschel!”

The thumbnail images below show just a snippet of views from Herschel over the last three years.  Make sure you visit the official ESA Space in Images page and search for Herschel for more ‘cool’ images.

All images copyrighted to ESA/Herschel, PAC and SPIRE

The image of Andromeda (M31) is awesome, it uses both the PACS (Photodetecting Array Camera and Spectrometer) and SPIRE (Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver) instruments to observe at infrared wavelengths of 70 um (blue), 100 um (green) and 160 um and 250 um combined (red).

Herschel will continue communicating with its ground stations now that the helium is exhausted, during which a range of technical tests will be performed.

Finally, in May, it will be propelled into its long-term stable parking orbit around the Sun.

Source: ESA

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The great thing about astronomy is that anyone with a sky over their heads can get involved. You don’t need a truckload of expensive gear, just an interest and a modicum of patience will get you a long way!

Soon after I got my camera and started posting images on this blog, Mick Judd (a talented photographer who I happen to work with) also began skywatching, and he has captured some great shots with limited “astro-specific” equipment.

After we recently discussed the upcoming penumbral eclipse on 25th April (see our images here) Mick went home and over the course of a few evenings has produced the following short video, which we hope you enjoy.

We think it’s great, and just the sort of thing we hope will help others catch the astronomy bug! But how did he do it?  I’ll let him explain that himself!

“To capture the images I used two different eyepieces on a D=60mm F=700mm telescope; an H20 to fit the whole of the moon in the frame and an HF6 for the close-ups of the lunar surface and for Saturn. To attach the camera (a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S mobile phone) I drilled a hole in the middle of a plastic lid from a can of hair mousse, and glued it around the lens hole on the phone’s protective case.

Slotting the plastic lid over the eyepiece housing on the telescope and pushing it into place, it’s then a bit of hit and miss with lining up what I can see in the finder scope with what I can see on the phone’s display. The Xperia Arc S has a lot of camera settings so it’s just a matter of adjusting EV levels and using a bit of digital zoom to fill the frame to avoid seeing the round edge of the eyepiece.

To try and make sure that I capture something that is sharp I slightly tweak the scope’s focus every now and then between shots. The Sunspots were viewed through an additionally fitted Solar filter.  All the footage in the video was captured between 15th and 27th April 2013.”

Top work Judd bloke, and an ingenious set up!

You can see more of Mick’s photos on his Flickr page here

Now everyone get outdoors and enjoy the night sky!

The Kepler-62 system – home to two habitable zone worlds. The small shining object to the right of Kepler-62f is Kepler-62e. Image credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech.

Its been far too long since I contributed to Sky-Watching on a regular basis. On that sudden note here’s the first post in a while and its exoplanet related.

In the search for extraterrestrial life, NASA’s Kepler team have announced the discovery of Kepler-62 – a multiple planet system composed of five Earth and super-Earth sized planets, two of which are habitable zone worlds, orbiting an orange dwarf or to be precise a K-type main-sequence star.

Ok, so this is cool news right, and a K-type star too.  I’m intrigued.  Has Kepler found ideal SETI-target planets?

K-type stars are of particular interest in the search for other life because they are about three to four times as abundant as sun-like stars, making planet searches easier. K-type stars are also stable on the main sequence for a very long time, around 15 to 30 billion years which is two to three times longer than our own sun  and this may create an opportunity for life to evolve on the terrestrial planets orbiting them.

An artistic view of the system seen from Kepler-62f. Image credit: Danielle Futselaar/SETI Institute

The outermost planet, named Kepler-62f (see image) is about 1.4 times Earth’s radius and has a period of 267 Earth days. If Kepler-62f is a rocky planet with a similar atmosphere to Earth, sitting in the stars habitable zone it could host liquid water on its surface. Kepler-62e, also in the habitable zone is 1.6 times the Earth’s radius with a period of 122 Earth days, it could also host liquid water on its surface.

The authenticity of this multiple planet system was confirmed by a statistical analysis based on previous discoveries of multiple planets by Kepler as the detection of these planets was indirect.  The Kepler astronomers observed gradual loss of the host star’s brightness due to the passage of a planet in the line of sight, and not the planets themselves.  Speaking about the detection process Jason Rowe, Research Scientist at the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute and co-author of the work said “Such calculations are only possible because of the thousands of additional transiting extrasolar planets that Kepler has discovered”.

About the discoveries Jon Jenkins,  Senior Scientist at the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute and co-author of the work said “These discoveries move us farther down the road to discovering planets similar to Earth. While we don’t know if Kepler-62e and f are rocky or whether they have liquid water pooling on their surfaces, their existence shows that the incidence of small worlds in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars is high.

Thus we can look forward to the discovery and detailed characterization of Earth’s cousins in the years and decades to come by future missions and telescopes.”

So there you go – exoplanets, K-type stars, some smart scientists from the SETI Institute, nice images and a post with a final thought…

If Kepler has found ideal SETI-target planets, sort the funding and bring on the future missions and telescopes.

Sources: SETI / spacedaily.com

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