A Pricescoper''s Guide to the Galaxy ( astronomy thread)

[marcy]

Great sights this weekend!




On what date can you first see the waxing crescent Moon? The visibililty of objects in bright twilight is exaggerated here.

Sky & Telescope diagram
Saturday, April 25





[*]After sunset, an elusive, extremely thin young crescent Moon displays its early-springtime upright Cheshire Cat smile (as seen from mid-northern latitudes). Look for it just above the west-northwest horizon, to the lower right of Mercury, as shown here. Bring binoculars.

Will this sighting set your personal young-Moon record? The crescent will be only about 21 hours from new at viewing time from the East Coast of North America, and 24 hours from new as seen from the West Coast. Have you ever seen a crescent this young? (Calculate from the exact time of new Moon under Friday above.)

[*]As early dawn begins on Sunday morning, aim your telescope at Jupiter low in the southeast. The star 44 Capricorni intrudes directly between Jupiter and Ganymede, the planet''s brightest satellite.

Sunday, April 26

[*]As twilight fades, look for the Pleiades glimmering between Mercury and the waxing crescent Moon, as shown at right. Think photo opportunity! The Moon has just finished occulting the Pleiades for skywatchers on the Atlantic Ocean.

Monday, April 27

[*]The red long-period variable stars T Hydrae and R Ophiuchi should be at their brightest (8th magnitude) around now.

 

[whitby_2773]

hi lorelei

i know nothing about astronomy, stars and so on.

however, my best friend here is an astrophysicist for NASA, and part of what he oversees as part of his job is the Kepler project (the one recently launched to find new, earth-size planets in habitable zones of stars).

despite my ignorance, he took me star-gazing once - with his equipment - and it was unbelievable. seeing the stars and the planets and all the formations through his eyes and with his commentary was like opening up the cosmos. it was breathtaking. what a gift to share with someone!

enjoy your star-gazing!

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks Whitby!

Due to the oft pants weather in the UK I can''t see as much as I would like to due to cloud cover over the target

, but I do enjoy a good stargazing session when I can. The best times are late at night in the winter when it is frosty and cold. As I live in the country the light pollution isn''t too bad, the sky is lit up with stars and shooting stars - what a show it can provide!

How fascinating with your friend!!! That must have been THE most incredible experience!

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 4/25/2009 5:37:00 AM
Author: Lorelei
Thanks Whitby!


Due to the oft pants weather in the UK I can''t see as much as I would like to due to cloud cover over the target

, but I do enjoy a good stargazing session when I can. The best times are late at night in the winter when it is frosty and cold. As I live in the country the light pollution isn''t too bad, the sky is lit up with stars and shooting stars - what a show it can provide!

How fascinating with your friend!!! That must have been THE most incredible experience!

i chuckled when you said the weather was often ''pants''; before we moved to NY we lived in Epsom for some years, and earlier Portsmouth, and it''s an expression (and a terrific one!) i haven''t heard since then.

a group of us in australia bought a very good friend a Meade telescope for her 40th birthday, and she became a fanatic overnight (so to speak!). When she came to the US for a visit, my friend, David (the NASA one) took her on a tour of the Keck Interferometer, and we couldnt get a sensible word out of her for ages; she was totally blown away. even i, who really know nothing about astronomy, could see just how special what he does is, and the incredible significance of it. it''s one of the few careers/jobs i''ve ever seen which i think is truly ''important'' - with all that means.

i know this is a long shot, lorelei, but - seriously - if you ever were planning a trip to LA, i''d be more than happy to link you up with David to take you on a tour; he''s an excellent guide, as people are when they''re both knowledgeable and passionate about their topic. here''s a link about him; it''s out of date now - he has moved on from the Michelson Science Center but is still at the Caltech arm of NASA.

if you read the article, the ''pictures'' they refer to in the first line were actually a gift from me (my sole contribution to space exploration!)

i hope you''re having a really nice weekend

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/newworlds/planethuntersimel.html

 

[marcy]

Which planet should join PriceScope? Saturn; it''s got a ton of rings. Okay, silly joke but I just had to post it.

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 4/26/2009 10:52:13 PM
Author: marcyc
Which planet should join PriceScope? Saturn; it''s got a ton of rings. Okay, silly joke but I just had to post it.

am laughing, marcyc...