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Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Must-See Sunset Phenomenon

Space Weather News for Dec. 30, 2013
http://spaceweather.com

MUST-SEE SUNSET PHENOMENON: Like the Moon, Venus has phases, and this week the second planet from the sun is a whisper-thin crescent. The phenomenon is easy to observe. Venus is so bright, you can see it at sunset even before the sky fades to black (hint: face southwest).  A pair of binoculars or a small telescope reveals Venus's crescent shape. Check http://spaceweather.com for photos and more information.

AURORA WATCH:  A solar wind stream is approaching Earth and could spark the first auroras of 2014 when it arrives on Jan. 2-4.  Would you like a call when the sky lights up? Geomagnetic storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).


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Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
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Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
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Tuesday, 24 December 2013

Charts-info Astrosite Geoningen (December 24, 2013) 

We have prepared the following new chart for our homepage:    C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy):    - a 9x12 degrees chart for the period 25 December 2013 - 12 January 2014    This new chart is now available in the charts section of our   mainpage at: http://www.shopplaza.nl/astro    We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a bright 2014.    Reinder Bouma/Edwin van Dijk  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------  You are currently subscribed to the charts-info of Astrosite Groningen.  You can (un)subscribe to this service by sending an email to comets@home.nl  with in the body: (un)subscribe charts-info <your email address>.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



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Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
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Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
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Rare Christmas Conjunction Observed from Space

Something Interesting....
 
 
Space Weather News for Dec. 24, 2013
http://spaceweather.com

CHRISTMAS CONJUNCTION: Stationed over the far side of the sun, NASA's STEREO-B probe is observing a rare conjunction of planets.  Venus, Jupiter, and Earth  are aligning to produce a "Christmas Star" for the distant spacecraft.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for images.

LAST MINUTE GIFT IDEA: Would you like to give someone a solar flare for Christmas? There's still time. Gift subscriptions to our Space Weather Alert Service are available now. Sign up for text (http://spaceweathertext.com) or voice (http://spaceweatherphone.com).


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Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
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--
Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
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Monday, 23 December 2013

Comet Lovejoy-still on view for early risers....

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Saturday, 21 December 2013

The Winter Solstice....

The Winter Solstice arrive @ 17.11 hours U.T (Just after the football final whistle)
 
 
 
Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
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Friday, 13 December 2013

Comet Lovejoy...

http://www.popastro.com/

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Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
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--
Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
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Information
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Thursday, 12 December 2013

The Geminid Meteor Shower is Underway

Space Weather News for Dec. 12, 2013
http://spaceweather.com

GEMINID METEOR SHOWER:  Earth is entering a stream of debris from "rock comet" 3200 Phaethon, source of the annual Geminid meteor shower.  Last night, NASA cameras recorded more than a dozen fireballs over the USA.  Geminid activity should remain relatively high for the next three or four nights, with a peak expected on Dec. 13-14.  Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and observing tips.

GEOMAGNETIC STORM:  On Dec. 7th, a solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field, sparking an unexpected geomagnetic storm and Northern Lights over several US states. Did you miss it?  Auroras alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).


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Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
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--
Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
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[BAA-ebulletin 00778] GEMINID METEOR SHOWER NEARING PEAK

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BAA electronic bulletin
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GEMINID METEOR SHOWER NEARING PEAK



The Geminid meteor shower is now underway, with peak activity expected
during the early morning hours of Saturday, 14th December 2013.



The Geminids are the richest of the annual meteor showers, with rates
outstripping those of the Perseids for a 24-hour interval centred on their
14 December maximum.  Unfortunately, this year's peak coincides with a
waxing gibbous Moon, only three days from full, in Aries/Taurus, so best
observed rates are most likely in the pre-dawn hours of December 14.
Observers are advised to direct their gaze away from the Moon, or to hide
the Moon behind an obstruction such as the wall of a house.



This year, Geminid maximum is expected at around 01h on Saturday, 14th
December, when the peak Geminid Zenithal Hourly Rate may reach 120 m/h.
There is the added bonus of an increased proportional abundance of bright
events after maximum; past observations show that bright Geminids become
more numerous some hours after the rates have peaked, a consequence of
particle-sorting in the meteor stream. Bright moonlight will, of course,
considerably reduce the number of meteors actually observed.



Geminid maximum is broad and it is important to have a spread of observers
making observations throughout the nights of 13th/14th December and on
14th/15th December to ensure adequate coverage of the shower maximum.  In
addition, observations by BAA members in North America and the Far East will
be welcomed by the Meteor Section to improve coverage of the period of peak
shower activity.



The Geminid radiant (at RA 07h 32m  Dec +33o, just north of Castor) rises
early on and reaches a respectable altitude well before midnight, so
observers who are unable to stay up late can still contribute useful
watches.



Meteor showers are supposed to come from periodic comets, yet there is no
very short period comet that matches the orbit of the Geminid meteoroid
stream. Instead, the orbit of the Geminids is occupied by an object called
3200 Phaethon, which looks remarkably like a rocky asteroid. A group of
astronomers led by David Jewitt of UCLA have been using NASA's STEREO probes
to take a closer look at 3200 Phaethon when it passes closest to the Sun. In
2010 one of the STEREO probes recorded a doubling of Phaethon's brightness
as it approached the Sun, as if sunlight were shining through a cloud of
dust around the asteroid.



The observers began to suspect 3200 Phaethon was something new - a "rock
comet" which is, essentially, an asteroid that approaches so close to the
Sun that solar heating scorches dusty debris right off its rocky surface
forming a tail of rocky grains. Seeing 3200 Phaethon sprout a tail, even a
small one, provides some confidence that Phaethon is indeed the source of
the Geminids - but a mystery remains: How can such a stubby protuberance
produce such a grand meteor shower? Only time and further continued
observations may provide the answer.



Geminid meteors enter the atmosphere at a relatively slow 35 km/sec, and
thanks to their robust (rocky/asteroidal as opposed to dusty/cometary)
nature tend to last longer than most in luminous flight. Unlike swift
Perseid or Orionid meteors, which last only a few tenths of a second,
Geminids may be visible for a second or longer, sometimes appearing to
fragment into a train of 'blobs'. Their relatively low speed and the
abundance of bright events makes the Geminids a prime target for imaging.



For further information, or copies of report forms, observing notes, and
details of how to carry out group meteor watches, please visit the BAA
Meteor Section website at http://britastro.org/meteor





This e-bulletin issued by:

John W. Mason, Director, BAA Meteor Section

2013 December 11



======================================================================
BAA-ebulletin mailing list visit:
http://lists.britastro.org/mailman/listinfo/baa-ebulletin
(c) 2013 British Astronomical Association    http://www.britastro.org/
======================================================================



--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
--
Information
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Monday, 2 December 2013

[BAA-ebulletin 00776] Comet 2012 S1 (ISON)

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BAA electronic bulletin
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Sadly the comet appears not to have survived its ordeal after all.  It steadily faded and became more diffuse after its initial reappearance.  I've posted a movie showing its passage through the C3 field on the Section web page. Something might be visible as the remnant moves into darker skies, but this is likely to require deep imaging.

To compensate, 2013 R1 (Lovejoy) is quite a nice object, with the tail becoming more prominent.  This is visible soon after dark, in Bootes.  Binoculars will help to find it, but if you have clear dark skies you may see it with the naked eye.  A better view will be had in the early morning when the comet is higher in the sky.

See http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds for updates on cometary activity, and links to other useful information such as the Computing Section finder charts.

Jonathan Shanklin
Director, Comet Section
======================================================================
BAA-ebulletin mailing list visit:
http://lists.britastro.org/mailman/listinfo/baa-ebulletin
(c) 2013 British Astronomical Association    http://www.britastro.org/
======================================================================

--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
--
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