Fun with Venus, the Moon, and a Shower on April 22

On the morning of April 22, a few fun things will be happening in the heavens!

Earth will pass through the Lyrid meteor shower. It's the trail of Comet Thatcher.

At the same time, the crescent moon will be converging with Venus. In some areas, Venus will seem to disappear as it is blocked from view by the moon.

Read the NASA article here.

A couple fun space items...a little too late

I meant to blog about these earlier because I think the peak time for both has passed but oh well. :/ Maybe there will be some cool images online.

Comet Lulin
Comet Lulin is green! It was supposed to be the brightest on the 24th (today), but maybe it's still visible. Or check out these links:
NASA article
Photo Gallery

Saturn's moons
Also on the 24th, 4 of Saturn's moons will cross in front so you can see their shadows on the planet.
NASA article

ISS Tosses Out the Garbage

Image from spaceweather.com

Spaceweather.com has an interesting news item. Over a year ago, an obsolete ammonia reservoir the size of a refrigerator was tossed out from the ISS. It has been circling the Earth ever since and is due to reenter the Earth's atmosphere soon.

From their email newsletter:

If predictions are correct, the "Early Ammonia Servicer" (EAS for short) will turn into a brilliant fireball as it disintegrates in Earth's atmosphere during the early hours of Monday, Nov. 3rd. Uncertainties in the exact reentry time are so great (plus or minus 15 hours at the time of this alert) that it is impossible to pinpoint where the fireball will appear. At the moment, every continent except Antarctica has some favorable ground tracks.

Go to spaceweather.com for updates and check out their Satellite Tracker to see when a flyby might occur in your area (worldwide). Pretty cool!

The Harvest Moon

Are you ready for the Harvest Moon?


Picture from wikipedia

It's supposed to be the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. I've heard it's called the Harvest Moon because it's a bright full moon that allows farmers to work late by the light of the moon. It should be a beautiful sight!

Check out this article from space.com for information about all the full moon names and dates for 2008.

Lunar Eclipse Right Now (Except for North America)

A lunar eclipse will be visible today from all continents except North America. From spaceweather.com:

At maximum, around 2110 UT (5:10 pm EDT) on Saturday, Aug. 16th, more than 81% of the Moon will be inside Earth's shadow, producing a vivid red orb visible to the naked eye even from light-polluted cities.

More info at SpaceWeather.com.

Sky Show July 4th and 5th (Not Fireworks!)

The planets Saturn and Mars, and the star Regulus (Harry Potter!* w00t!) will converge on Friday, July 4th. There's an awesome skymap of it here.

Then on Saturday, July 5th, the crescent Moon joins in. Check out that skymap here.

Find out more about these convergences and the probes orbiting or inhabiting the two planets and the moon here.

*A shout out to the mysterious Regulus Black from the Harry Potter books.

Don't Miss Tonight's Full Moon (Then Plant Your Root Crops)

Tonight (Wednesday, June 18) around sunset, you should see a pretty spectacular full moon. It'll look enormous due to the "Moon Illusion". According to this article from Nasa it's related to the Summer Solstice happening in just a couple days. When the sun is high (as it will be during the solstice), the moon is low. Also in that article are some neat images to illustrate the concept. Enjoy the full moon before ringing in summer with the Summer Solstice.

I've heard that you should plant crops that produce above ground between the new and full moon, and then plant your root crops between the full moon and the new moon. You're also supposed to use the new and full moon days as days of rest and celebration, so no need to do your gardening today! I finally got my garden started by putting in cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, beans, and lettuce. After the full moon, I'll put in the onions and carrots.

I did the garden in stages with the help of my husband because I get exhausted so easily now. We started by adding a layer of compost (compost bins are so awesome!), then I prepped all the holes and mounds I would need. A few days later :| I put in those above-ground producers.

Happy Rose/Strawberry Moon, Summer Solstice, and Planting!

Here's a Thought....

Make sure your telescope is in proper working order and that you have all the pieces BEFORE the eclipse happens, rather than DURING the eclipse. :/ I didn't get the chance to look at Saturn and Regulus through my telescope because I couldn't find the viewpiece and the battery pack had broken, but I did pull out the tripod and get some photos of the eclipse. I'll post some if any of them turned out ok.

More on the Total Lunar Eclipse (happening soon!)

For the U.S.:

"The moon will enter Earth's umbral shadow (the full shadow) at 8:43 p.m. ET (that's 7:43 p.m. Central, 6:43 p.m. Mountain and 5:43 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, Feb. 20. It will appear as though an ever-larger bite is being taken out of the moon.

Some 78 minutes later, the moon will slip into full eclipse. About 51 minutes later, a bright scallop will appear as the moon starts emerging. It will be completely out of the umbral shadow at 9:09 p.m. Pacific time, which is 12:09 a.m. ET on Thursday morning."

That was taken from this article at space.com.

Also!!! Regulus and Saturn will be visible at the same time - see this page at space.com.

Time to go get my camera ready!

Look to the Skies

Don't forget about the Total Lunar Eclipse today! Find out about your viewing options and get more information here.

We also still have a chance to see the spy satellite before it's taken out. MSNBC has an article about it, including a link to potential viewing times and locations.

Name That Telescope AND a Lunar Eclipse!

Go here to suggest a name for Nasa's new Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST). I'm not creative enough to come up with anything good, but I think it's a fun idea!

Also, don't forget about the Total Lunar Eclipse on Feburary 20, 2008.

More on Venus/Jupiter/Moon Convergence

Another article on the convergence of Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon. This one is from NASA and it's pretty good so I thought I'd share. Enjoy!

Venus, Jupiter, the Moon, and Beyond

Venus and Jupiter are coming together as you read this and will be closest around dawn of February 1 (not sure if this is relative time). They are bright enough that I think we'll be able to see it with the naked eye, though I'd like to see it through my telescope. The moon will join the party soon after. I can say I'd love to see it with the best of intentions, but dawn is so, so early. We'll see.

More information from space.com can be found here.

I was curious about the astrological take on this kind of convergence, so I asked my friend Persephone's Gate to give me some insight on what's going on in the skies. She told me that a Mercury Retrograde starts today:

Basically it's a good time to finish anything that you have left undone.....it's also a good time to revisit issues that previously you didn't feel complete about, because if you don't they will just rear their heads again later when the energy shifts again. On a more mundane level, it's a time to double-check any kind of written agreements, instructions, etc. Travel is likely to be delayed - have a Plan B in mind, you may need it! Communications in general are more challenging under a mercury retrograde.

You can find out more about Persephone's Gate at her website, where she offers pottery she has made and tarot readings. I've had a tarot reading from her and it was thoroughly interesting and enjoyable! The site is under construction, but you will still find out a little about what she does and how to contact her.