You don''t need a telescope to enjoy Mars, however. It is plainly visible to the naked eye, bright and red, standing out among the pale stars of Gemini as something definitely different.
Finding the constellation and the planet within is child''s play on Nov. 26th and 27th. That''s when the nearly full Moon glides past Mars, only one degree away, and draws attention to the pair. If you can find the full Moon, you can find Mars. Look east before bedtime on Monday evening, Nov. 26th, or west before dawn on Tuesday morning, Nov. 27th.
Take a cup of coffee outside on Nov. 27th and spend some time sipping it while the sun rises and a hint of blue infuses the twilight sky. The sight of the silver Moon and red Mars backlit by blue sky is breathtaking.
Why has Mars gotten so bright and attractive? It''s because Earth and Mars are converging. At closest approach on Dec. 18th, the two worlds will lie only 55 million miles apart. That may sound like a great distance, but it is just a hop, skip and a jump on the vast scale of the solar system. NASA is taking advantage of the close encounter to send a new mission to Mars: the Phoenix Lander. Phoenix launched in August 2007 and is due to reach Mars in May 2008, joining the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity already there.
Take a look at Mars: If it is this good now, what will it be like in December?
Hi Libster. Here are a few websites on celestial navigation. It''s not an area I''m well versed in but these look pretty good. One of the guys in our astronomy club did this for a living and he brought a lot of his tools to a meeting one time. It was all very cool and impressive. I guess even with GPS you still need more precise information not to get lost as sea.Date: 11/14/2007 10:11:35 PM
Author: Libster
Cool thread!
Sitting here with Hubby and he asks me if I know anything about astronomy....I say ''No, but I think there is some info on Pricescope!''
Hubby wonders if anyone knows of any good websites with information about celestial navigation?
Date: 11/25/2007 12:24:37 AM
Author: marcyc
Hi Libster. Here are a few websites on celestial navigation. It''s not an area I''m well versed in but these look pretty good. One of the guys in our astronomy club did this for a living and he brought a lot of his tools to a meeting one time. It was all very cool and impressive. I guess even with GPS you still need more precise information not to get lost as sea.Date: 11/14/2007 10:11:35 PM
Author: Libster
Cool thread!
Sitting here with Hubby and he asks me if I know anything about astronomy....I say ''No, but I think there is some info on Pricescope!''
Hubby wonders if anyone knows of any good websites with information about celestial navigation?
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/celnavtable.php
http://www.celestialnavigation.net/
Surfgirl, how exciting that Mr Surfgril got a new scope; it sounds wonderful. Isn’t Saturn amazing? It’s one of my favorites (okay I have a billion favorites). Did you go out this weekend? I can’t wait to hear what you got to see. Mars will be by the Moon on the 19th. If you haven’t checked out Comet Holmes yet it’s still bright enough to see out in the country.
Surfgirl, I understand the let down from Hubble images to what you can see through your average telescope but just the fact that you can look at it yourself is so amazing. You can see the rings of Saturn in almost any scope. If you are an early riser you can check out Jupiter and it’s 4 moons. Comet Holmes was the bright comet that showed up in late October. It is still around and bright enough to see naked eye from really dark skies. There is a total lunar eclipse visible next month on the 20th.
Date: 7/25/2007 2:10:54 PM
Author: Lorelei
I am trying to remember exactly what makes a shooting star, it is the remnants of something as it hits our atmosphere, they are so neat to watch. My best time is on a freezing cold night in the early hours of the morning in my stableyard to watch shooting stars, as there is hardly any light to interfere, they are just whizzing about all over the show, it is a fantastic sight.
I can''t believe that about the Northern Lights either that no one else bothered to get up and look.Also that fascinates me to think that the light I am seeing now travelling from a star, may have left it hundreds of years ago.
Early risers should try to watch Venus and Jupiter as they close in on each for the next few days. If you look to the SE about an hour before sunrise you’ll find brilliant Venus above bright Jupiter. They will continue to move closer together until February 1st when they are less than a degree apart making a spectacular sight.
Early risers this week (Feb. 18th) can see 3 planets at once. Looking ESE you can see Mercury very low, Venus slightly higher and further south with Jupiter higher and to the SE. Look about 45 minutes before sunrise. Venus and Mercury will close in on each other all week until they are closest on Wednesday Feb. 27th. They will be low so you’ll probably need a low ESE horizon to see them but they will be stunning side by side.
300x240.png)
