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April showers of the Lyrid kind

April 17, 2013

by yaska77

Beginning now until the 25th of this month we see the April Lyrid meteor shower (peaking on April 22nd before dawn). The meteors in this shower tend to be bright and leave persistent trails as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

In recent years the shower has seen anything from 10 to 20 meteors per hour.

01-wye-downs-perseid-12082012-sky-watching-co-uk

We caught this Perseid meteor flashing across the night sky in August 2012, so we’re hoping to have clear skies for the Lyrids! (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

Although that might sound like a fairly mediocre “shower”, it has been known for the Lyrids to surge to over 100 per hour! This is what makes this shower so difficult to predict. How many will we see?

Will it be a downpour of shooting stars or a washout this year!?

Lyrid Meteor Radiant 22.04.2013 01.00UTC Sky-Watching.co.uk

Although the meteors will seem to originate from Lyra, they can appear all over the sky. Shown above at 01:00 UTC (02:00 BST) on 22nd April just at the start of the peak (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Lyrid meteors originate from a radiant point in the constellation of Lyra which is where this shower gets its name. The best time to look for Lyrid meteors is late in the evening after 21:00 UTC (22:00 BST) however, the waxing gibbous Moon will still be in the sky until the early hours so its light may wash out the fainter meteors.

02-perseid-from-andromeda-12082012-sky-watching-co-uk

Another Perseid from August 2012, this one has more definition to the shape at the end of the streak and is seen heading away from the Andromeda galaxy (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

Don’t let this deter you though, the unpredictable nature of the Lyrid shower is what makes it worth watching so we hope you have clear skies!

Now we’ve expressed an interest we’re expecting it to be cloudy, but amateur astronomers are nothing if not optimistic :)

Posted in Astronomy, Meteor, Moon, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

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Astronomy Events – December 2012

November 30, 2012

by yaska77

We’re now into advent calendar territory as we venture into December! Another year nearly done but don’t look too far ahead just yet.

Listed below are some upcoming astronomical events with something to interest everyone, so we hope you can get out there and get stargazing. If anyone is taking pictures please tweet them to us on Twitter!

Clear skies all…

Monday 3rd December - The gas giant Jupiter is at Opposition in Taurus, meaning it will be observable in the night sky all evening as it’s opposite the Sun in the sky

Tuesday 4th December – Mercury is at its Greatest Western Elongation today and rises before the Sun. It forms a nice alignment with Venus, Saturn and the star Spica (shown below)

Mercury will be visible as a morning object for the first couple of weeks of the month

Shown at 06:30 UTC, this morning is a good opportunity to image Mercury if your eastern horizon is flat enough (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Shown at 06:30 UTC, this morning is a good opportunity to image Mercury if your eastern horizon is flat enough (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Thursday 6th December – This evening is a last quarter Moon

Wednesday 12th December – Today the Moon is at Perigee at a distance of 357,075 km (221,876 miles), the closest point in it’s orbit to the Earth

Thursday 13th December – This morning sees a New Moon which rises and sets with the Sun, so with the darker skies now is a good time for observing deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulae

M42 the Orion Nebula (in the constellation of the same name) will be high and south at midnight (see below)

M42 the Orion Nebula is a great sight through binoculars or a small telescope (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

M42 the Orion Nebula is a great sight through binoculars or a small telescope (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

Thursday 13th into Friday 14th – The annual Geminid meteor shower peaks at 19:00 UTC on Thursday evening, with a ZHR of over 100 being fairly common. Viewing rates are expected to be good all night through to dawn so if you can brave the damp and the cold they should be well worth a look (and early enough to get kids involved!)

We’ve put a radiant guide below (the direction the meteors will appear to originate from) but the meteors will be visible flashing all over the sky. As Geminids enter the atmosphere at a relatively slow speed, and are fairly robust in composition, the streaks can last longer than the quicker Orionid or Perseid meteors

The Geminid Meteor Radiant is shown on 13th December at 22:30 UTC (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

The Geminid Meteor Radiant is shown above on 13th December at 22:30 UTC, but meteors will be visible all over the sky (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

And with the added bonus of the Moon being out of the way any you see should be bright against the dark sky, so happy hunting!

Tuesday 18th December – The dwarf planet Ceres is at opposition in the constellation Taurus, though you’ll need a telescope or some good binoculars to see it

Thursday 20th December – This morning it’s a First Quarter Moon

Friday 21st December – Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere

Tuesday 25th December – Today the Moon is at Apogee at a distance of 406,100 km (252,339 miles), the farthest point in its orbit to the Earth

Friday 28th December – Today’s Full Moon is also sometimes known as the Oak Moon, Frost Moon or Winter Moon

Planets visible this month:

Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Uranus
Neptune
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 – November 2012
Astronomy Events – October 2012
Astronomy Events – September 2012

or click on Monthly Guide for the full archive

Posted in Astronomy, Jupiter, Mars, Meteor, Moon, Night sky, Planets, Resources, Space, Stars, Venus, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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Perseid Meteor Shower – 12th August 2012

August 12, 2012

by yaksa77

After the dress rehearsal for this morning’s Perseid meteor shower peak provided so many sightings on Friday I had hight hopes. Never one to conform to expectations though, the run up to the peak was decidely slow starting and a bit lacklustre!

Undeterred by this, or the stubborn refusal of evening cloud to move on, I still set out just gone midnight to the Wye Downs in mid-Kent. Despite only capturing a few flashes with the camera eventually the show sparked into life, and in just over an hour I saw 33 meteors!

Taken using a Canon EOS 550D at 18mm focal length, f/3.5, 20 second exposure at ISO-1600 – 12th August 2012 (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

This is probably the best of the photos I got while out in the countryside, I love the way the meteor flashed into view right in the middle of a gap in the clouds.

The Pleiades cluster is also nice and bright, and you can see Jupiter is just rising at the base of the fence post directly below the meteor!

This one shows a nice long clear Perseid tail with more definition to the shape at the end of the streak, heading away from Andromeda – 12th August 2012 (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

After a few hours I packed up and headed home to find the skies had cleared over my house. Not wanting to miss the opportunity I set up again and caught a few more (the best of which are above and below). In the image above the Perseid can be seen streaking away from an oval smudge that is the Andromeda galaxy.

I’m so pleased that after my disappointment with the faint efforts I got last year, over the last two nights I’ve caught some nice clear examples of one of nature’s most beautiful free displays!

Another clear Perseid streak, this time with a faint green tint to the tail! 12th August 2012 (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

I’m not sure what the weather forecast is for this evening but the shower should still be fairly strong, and I feel on a bit of a roll at the moment so may just set the camera up again tonight.

Well, I wouldn’t want to miss anything would I!? :)

Posted in Astronomy, Blog gallery, Meteor, Night sky, Space, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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Warming up to the Perseid show

August 11, 2012

by yaska77

As you probably know, the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks this evening (check our monthly guide for some more info) but because it was clear last night I set up my camera in the garden, more out of hope than expectation.

My history of trying to photograph meteors has been sketchy at best (see last years attempt here) but last night I was left grinning like a cheshire cat!

18mm focal length, f/3.5, 15 sec exposure at ISO1600 – This is easily the best meteor photo i’ve taken (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

I approach photography with a “try lots of settings and see” kind of attitude, and I’ve found what works initially may not look as good an hour later (light pollution quite often gives me orange skies if I don’t pay attention). Normally I wouldn’t have the ISO as high as 1600 for long exposure star shots, but anything lower was producing too much of an orange tint.

Still, I’m very pleased with the shot above, lots of stars, a bright Perseid meteor flash and it’s not too faded.  The other shots I caught weren’t as clear, but one did stand out as the meteor flashed by a cool little cluster that you can’t usually see with the naked eye (unless you’re lucky enough to have dark skies!)

Another Perseid meteor flashes past Brocchi’s Cluster (the upside down coat hanger!) in this cropped image from early on 11th August 2012 (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

Brocchi’s Cluster can be found within the imagined lines of the “Summer Triangle“, about a third of the way from Altair in a straight line to Vega.  It’s also known as the “Coathanger” for obvious reasons!

And so on to this evening.  My camera’s batteries are charging, the tripod is ready and the weather forecast is (currently) still favourable, so I’m planning a little trip out of town tonight to slightly darker skies. It’s building up to be a good show, and if I get any more images I’ll post them here!

And if you capture any photos of your own, please feel free to tweet them to us as we’d love to see them!

Enjoy the show :)

Posted in Astronomy, Blog gallery, Meteor, Night sky, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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Astronomy Events – August 2012

July 31, 2012

by yaska77

Prepare to crane your necks as the Perseid display peaks mid-month. Considered one of the most reliable meteor showers, Perseid spotting is a great way to spend the Summer evenings (British Summer still more or less absent) and with sightings already being reported it’s a good chance to get kids interested by going out for a look as soon as it gets dark!

Another event of immense interest this month is the Mars landing of NASA’s latest rover named Opportunity. We live in exciting times.

So, with a little something listed below for everyone to enjoy, keep watching the skies!

Thursday 2nd August - Tonight’s Full Moon is also known as the Grain Moon, Sturgeon Moon and Lightning Moon

Sunday 5th into
Monday 6th August – NASA’s latest Mars rover (named Curiosity) from the Mars Science Laboratory mission is due to land on the Red Planet over night tonight. The car-sized, nuclear powered Curiosity has been designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms

Expected to land around 01:31 EDT (05:31 GMT 06:31 BST), you can watch build up to this event on NASA TV live from 03:00 GMT (Entry descent) following straight in to the landing itself (programme begins from 04:00 GMT)

Artist’s concept of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars’ past or present ability to sustain microbial life, which launched in November 2011 (click to enlarge) – Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

We’ll post a Live Player closer to the time ;)

Thursday 9th August – Last Quarter Moon

Friday 10th August – The Moon is at Apogee today (the farthest away its orbit will take it this time around) at a distance of 404,125 km

Saturday 11th August – The annual Perseid Meteor Shower peaks this evening, with the best time for viewing (from the UK) between 23:00 GMT (00:00 BST) and 04:30 GMT (05:30 BST) on 12th August

Look halfway up the north east sky tonight and see how many Perseid meteors you can see! Guide above at 23:00 GMT/00:00 BST (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

This year there is a waning crescent Moon (24% lit) which shouldn’t interfere too badly, last year the peak of the Perseid shower coincided with a full Moon!

I caught this faint Perseid in a very moonlit sky last year. Hoping for better this year! (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

With a ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) of anything up to 100 meteors per hour, now is a great time to get kids involved, as although the peak is late meteors can still be spotted from nightfall in the days leading to and following the shower’s peak. The radiant guide above will show the direction the meteors will come from, but they’ll be visible streaking away from the radiant’s centre

Wednesday 15th August - Venus is at it’s Greatest Western Elongation, meaning it is rising before the Sun in the early morning. Early risers with a flat Eastern horizon may get a good photo opportunity, as Jupiter, Venus, the thin waning crescent Moon and Mercury all align in the pre-dawn light (with Mercury rising around 03:15 GMT (04:15 BST)

Pretty things all in a row! Mercury, the Moon, Venus and Jupiter align before sunrise (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium

Thursday 16th August - Mercury is at Greatest Western Elongation after Venus saw the same yesterday, if you’re lucky you might be able to get a photo as it sits near the waning crescent Moon just before sunrise

Friday 17th August – New Moon, which rises and sets with the Sun making tonight a good evening to observe deep sky objects

Thursday 23rd August – The Moon is at Perigee today at a distance of 369,730 km

Friday 24th August - First Quarter Moon, and Neptune is at Opposition in the constellation Aquarius

The first quarter Moon can produce some nice images, like this one we got of a daytime first quarter Moon (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

The Moon is a favoured target of astro imagers, and we’re no exception! Here is a recent daytime first quarter Moon (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn

Friday 31st August - Because tonight’s Full Moon is the second this month, it is also known as a Blue Moon…

We say “Once in a Blue Moon” to mean something is a rare occurrence, but in this case science has worked out that this saying actually means “Once every 2.72 years” (apparently)

Planets visible this month:

Mercury
Venus
Mars
Saturn
Jupiter
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 – July 2012
Astronomy Events – June 2012
Astronomy Events – May 2012

Posted in Astronomy, Meteor, Moon, NASA, Night sky, Planets, Resources, Space, Stars, Sun, yaska77 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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