The moon, right now

[Ted-Maul]

Just had another look, this time from the back yard. I think i'm addicted. I'm gonna look tomorrow night too cos its gonna be much brighter apparently. It's just so.....i dunno......enthralling? Whatever.... I think i'm turning into a character from a JG Ballard short story.

I've told people i know about it passing-by but, much like this thread, noone seems that interested.

What was the name of that comet that was visible from England about 15 years ago? Was it Halleys comet or the other one?

[micanio]

What was the name of that comet that was visible from England about 15 years ago? Was it Halleys comet or the other one?

Hale-Bopp



Halley's Comet won't be visible until 2061.

If you're a Twatterer then you should follow these boys - http://twitter.com/twisst - they send you an alert every time the ISS is due to pass your area.

I love astronomy. I did an OU course a few years ago. Absolutely loved it. There's nothing like looking through a telescope and seeing Saturn's rings or looking at Jupiter and seeing the Galilean moons. Mars is also pretty awesome to look at, especially now as it's quite close.

[Ted-Maul]

Ah Hale-Bopp, thanks micanio. I remember thinking at the time that I was lucky to see something like that pass in my lifetime but looking at it over a row of terraced houses wasn't as romantic as seeing it in that picture.

I thought about getting a telescope as a teenager but i just assumed that you wouldn't be able to see very much, so I didnt bother. I mean can you really see the rings of Saturn or is it just a blur around a bit of light? I know I was probably wrong and should think about learning more about astronomy.

I'll put it on my 'To Do list' ..... "No. 37 Learn Astronomy". Right after "Learn Portugease"

[The Cloud of Unknowing]

I love this photo of Hale Bopp over Grangemouth (I think); it looks like the cover of an old Pan paperback SF novel:


When I saw the ISS pass on Friday night just after midnight and late evening yesterday, I could dimly see a separate satellite ahead of it which I think was almost certainly the Progress 38 supply craft that recently failed to dock with the ISS.  I didn't notice it tonight.  They were supposed to be attempting to dock again today (Sunday), but no word on that yet.

[micanio]

I thought about getting a telescope as a teenager but i just assumed that you wouldn't be able to see very much, so I didnt bother. I mean can you really see the rings of Saturn or is it just a blur around a bit of light? I know I was probably wrong and should think about learning more about astronomy.

You don't need a large telescope to see Saturn, Jupiter or Mars. You need to get a Newtonian telescope with a 5" mirror like this

to see some good stuff. You can pick one of these up for about £50 second hand or new for about £100. And yes you can see Saturn's rings. It's an awe-inspiring sight when you see it for the first time. If you look at Mars at the moment, you will see the polar caps.

Other things to look at:

The Orion Nebula


Andromeda Galaxy


The Pleiades


The Moon


The Sun - with a Hydrogen Alpha filter


The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (but only south of the equator)


Your fit neighbor over the road

[ersatz99]

When I saw the ISS pass on Friday night just after midnight and late evening yesterday, I could dimly see a separate satellite ahead of it which I think was almost certainly the Progress 38 supply craft that recently failed to dock with the ISS.  I didn't notice it tonight.  They were supposed to be attempting to dock again today (Sunday), but no word on that yet.

Yes I saw that also, it was about 4 seconds ahead of the ISS on an identical path.

[NoSleep]

I used to own a refractor telescope when I was a young teenager, living in South Australia. The light pollution was not too bad back then and many lights were turned off in the small hours. Standing on our verandah, we looked down over Adelaide (toward S) and out to the sea to the SW and to the E to SE were the Mt Lofty Range. I remember going out there around 3 in the morning (this is the late 60s) and there were barely any lights on the ground, the moon was not visible, and the sky was crystal clear. You know it's a good night for stargazing when you can see the "cloud" of the Milky Way distinctly:

You don't need a large telescope to see Saturn, Jupiter or Mars. You need to get a Newtonian telescope with a 5" mirror like this

to see some good stuff. You can pick one of these up for about £50 second hand or new for about £100. And yes you can see Saturn's rings. It's an awe-inspiring sight when you see it for the first time. If you look at Mars at the moment, you will see the polar caps.

Other things to look at:

The Orion Nebula

Andromeda Galaxy

The Pleiades

The Moon

The Sun - with a Hydrogen Alpha filter

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (but only south of the equator)

Your fit neighbor over the road

I did all the above: that close up of the moon brings back memories, and yes; seeing the rings (and the moons) of Saturn, the markings on the surface of Jupiter (and its moons also) is some pretty awesome stuff, standing in your own garden. Regarding the neighbour; it was actually somebody miles away, such was the view over the Adelaide suburbs we had.

I feel like investing on one of those telescopes, apart from living near enough to an airport for the light pollution to be something of a problem, at least westward.

I was recently introduced to a neat little free app called Stellarium, which is a useful tool for keeping tabs of the night sky. You can configure it to map the sky from your exact coordinates in real time; the standard, most useful setting. Or you can set it to run forward or backward in time at whatever speed you desire and from any position on the earth's surface; I think you can even leave the earth and view from other planets and farther.

Apparently Stellarium can be used, in conjunction with a suitably equipped telescope, to actually locate and follow objects in the sky. Anyone who has used a telescope knows that, especially when you're using higher magnification, the rotation of the earth becomes a problem as you can actually see the object moving out of your field of view almost immediately. It would be good to have a computer controlled system to counter this; I wonder how expensive something like this would make to the purchase of a telescope?

[NoSleep]

Almost forgot: One night on the verandah I recall a shooting star travelling from the horizon to the South travelling directly overhead and out of sight Northward. I remember a (rushing) sound accompanying it? Was I imagining this or can you hear shooting stars?

Also, I remember seeing satellites in the sky back in those days, too. There must be a fair number up there that will visible to the naked eye, at least during the early evening.

Ah; and a link for Stellarium; well worth a look; http://www.stellarium.org/

[The Cloud of Unknowing]

Almost forgot: One night on the verandah I recall a shooting star travelling from the horizon to the South travelling directly overhead and out of sight Northward. I remember a (rushing) sound accompanying it? Was I imagining this or can you hear shooting stars?

I've seen countless meteors and have only had that experience once, thinking for a long time that I imagined it.  According to this theory http://earthsky.org/space/whoosh-can-you-hear-a-meteor-streak-past it can be real, although it isn't the sound of the meteor itself.

[micanio]

Apparently Stellarium can be used, in conjunction with a suitably equipped telescope, to actually locate and follow objects in the sky. Anyone who has used a telescope knows that, especially when you're using higher magnification, the rotation of the earth becomes a problem as you can actually see the object moving out of your field of view almost immediately. It would be good to have a computer controlled system to counter this; I wonder how expensive something like this would make to the purchase of a telescope?

Most lower end telescopes now come with a little motor that will rotate the telescope in conjunction with the rotation of the earth, so that you don't get wandering objects in your telescope. A decent computer controlled sky-tracking system can be quite expensive, but if you are willing to pay over £400 for a telescope, then chances are it will come with one.

[Galeee]

Almost forgot: One night on the verandah I recall a shooting star travelling from the horizon to the South travelling directly overhead and out of sight Northward. I remember a (rushing) sound accompanying it? Was I imagining this or can you hear shooting stars?

Sometimes you can hear the aurora borealis (or, I suppose, australis)