Astro-Blogging

New Astronomy Equipment Means Cloudy Skies

2008-01-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

It's that time again... time when budding and experienced astronomers alike have a bunch of new equipment that they're dying to test out. This time, however, corresponds directly with the time when skies are most likely to be cloudy... winter.

If you're like me, you have recently acquired some new astronomy equipment. Be it a telescope, eyepiece, filter, camera, or other such attachment. You're dying to get out and see what it can do under the darkest of skies. Winter, in some respects, is an ideal time to observe. It gets dark really early and stays dark until mid morning. However, a number of things need to line up before you can take advantage of this long dark spell. First and foremost, skies are far more likely to be cloudy in the winter than they are in the summer... or any other time of year for that matter. Secondly, even when skies are clear, this tends to lead to winters second draw back... its just plain cold in the winter. Sometimes, really cold.

So, what's an astronomer to do? Well, rest up :) Seriously. I've missed a couple of the few clear nights because I was simply too tired to head outside for the evening. You definitely want to make sure that this happens as rarely as possible. Additionally, update your list of online resources :) Sometimes, we need to get our astro-fix vicariously. Skies are always clear... somewhere. Someone is always feeling well rested and able to get out. Following is a list of a handful of sites that I like to visit whenever I need to have the itch scratched:
www.SpaceWeather.com
Astronomy Picture of The Day
Gemini Observatory
www.AdventuresInAstrophotography.com
Robert Gendler
Al Kelly
Another thing you might want to do is become active in your community's planning process. Light pollution is spreading rapidly and there are fewer and fewer dark sky locations to be found. Some people have to drive more than a day to get under truly dark skies. This is simply unacceptable. Checkout www.TheLightingPolice.com for some truly bad examples of outdoor lighting. The Lighting Police are working to reduce light pollution one bad installation at a time. If astronomers won't work to protect our night skies, who will?

Astrophotography Resource

2007-11-10T02:46:00.000-07:00

Just came across a cool new site devoted to astrophotography. Entitled, "Adventures in Astrophotography", the site takes you through one man's quest to become a real live astrophotographer. If you've ever taken images of the night sky, you know that this is not trivial. Low light levels and moving targets are not imaging targets for the faint of heart.

Here's an example of a pair of faint galaxies swiped from the site (it's ok, i'm providing a link)

Anyway, check out this great astrophotography resource (www.AdventuresInAstrophotography.com) when you can.

Moonrise

2006-11-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

This morning provided what just may have been the most spectacular moonrise of all time.

Meteors, Comets and Deep Sky Treasure

2006-10-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend marked the peak of the annual Orionid Meteor Shower... and what a peak it was. Timed to coincide with the October new moon, weekend skies were crisp and clear. Checkout this sweet shot by Brian Jolley. He's got an Orionid meteor streaking directly beneath Comet Swan. Wow!
Along with these solar system visitors were a large number of deep sky treats. The Hercules Star Cluster, The Ring Nebula, The Eskimo Nebula, etc. It was an absolutely wonderful night under the stars. And... to top things off, instead of camping, we ended up crashing at a friends very cushy "cabin". Thanks Tom!

More Great Astronomy Resources

2006-09-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

I came across the Von Braun Astronomical Society website the other day. They have a ton of really good astronomy resources on their site. I really like the way groups link to each other to provide users with an incredible array of resources all within a site. This group goes back to the mid-1950s when a local high school student made contact with Wernher von Braun. He formed the society and received significant input from von Braun and his colleagues. More information about the group can be found online at www.vbas.org

Meteor Shower Peaks Friday Morning

2006-07-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

The annual Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower peaks in the wee hours this coming Friday morning. Skywatchers under clear, dark skies can see as many as 10-15 meteors per hour. Checkout Spaceweather.com for more details.

Astronomy Blogs

2006-06-14T22:23:00.000-07:00

I've had the good fortune to stumble upon some high quality astronomy blogs lately. Its just amazing the number of folks who are passionate about astronomy. I think it is one of the coolest things you can do... setup on a clear night under some seriously dark skies. I just think its great to find some other like minded individuals out there.
On the Astronomy News side of the house, there is Tom's Astro Blog (www.tomsastroblog.com). Almost like clock work, Tom manages to find something truly interesting to write about. Observing events, Hubble Space Telescope discoveries, you name it. Tom seems to really be dialed in on these kinds of things. He recently wrote an article about light pollution. That's certainly a topic that readers of this site are familiar with. He covered the waste, the loss of the night sky, and all the usual stuff. What I enjoyed most, was the solutions that he offered. You can now buy outdoor lighting from a great new company, Starry Night Lights. This company sells nothing but ordinance compliant, night sky friendly outdoor lighting products. What a concept, huh? Put the light on the ground where its needed... and nowhere else. Duh! How'd we miss that one for 5 decades?
Another very cool astronomy blog is called The HobbySpace (www.hobbyspace.com). Here, you'll find a wide variety of astronomy related news, events and information. I think their tag line is very cool.... "Space For All". No doubt... the greatest outdoors. Kind of like the universe is your backyard.
Anyway.. when you get a moment.. be sure to pay a visit to these guys... I'm sure you'll bookmark them and check in regularly.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot

2006-05-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

Skies were pretty good last night. The clear sky clock was listing it at 6-6-5 (clear, transparent, steady) on a 1-6 scale. While I wasn't able to push quite as hard as I'd have hoped for... I was hoping to get some decent views at 400x... I settled in at 250x. This allowed me to see quite a bit of detail on the planets surface. Tops on the list was Jupiter's Great Red Spot. It came and went with the seeing, but... when it was in view... it allowed for some of the best views of the GRS in recent memory. I'm hoping to catch the GRS on a night with a transit of some sort... with images in the 400x range. This would be pretty sweet. Hopefully, I'll be posting on just such a success shortly.

eta Aquarids Peak This Weekend

2006-05-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

The annual eta Aquarid Meteor Shower peaks between midnight and first light on Saturday morning. The radiant of the event is in the constellation Aquarius which will be above the eastern horizon shortly before sunrise. The eta Aquarid Meteors Shower are triggered by Earth cruising through the remnants of the famous Halley’s Comet. While not very numerous, the shower is expected to produce a few memorable "earthgrazers", meteors which streak brightly over an extended distance. These are most typically seen hugging the horizon (hence the name earthgrazers). Get out there and check it out!

The Lyrids Are Coming

2006-04-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Lyrid Meteor Shower that is. The annual event will peak tonight... with highest meteor counts likely between midnight and first light. A waning crescent moon will rise around 4:00am. It won't be much of a negative impact on viewing. In fact... since the moon is actually going through the same cometary debris field... sharp-eyed observers armed with a telescope might actually see meteors striking the dark side of the moon!

Crazy Weather

2006-04-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post. To tell the truth... I've not been able to do a whole lot of observing. I got out and did my GLOBE observations. Under less than ideal skies, I recorded mag 5 skies from my home in Park City, UT. Not horrible mind you, but far from where they should be. I'll even throw in a comment that on an ideal night, skies would likely be closer to mag 6 than mag 5, but... still clearly showing signs of degradation from all the development that is taking place in the area.
Under very moist skies, we saw a beautiful arc around the moon the other night. I'm always amazed that this feature is just a touch wider than my widest angle lens. Figures, huh? Find a cool shot... and need to play games to get it just right. Oh, Well....
So.... what's the weather looking like? More of the same... cloudy, rain and/or snow. At least this batch is coinciding with the approaching full moon. I mean... if it has to be stormy... it might as well do so when the moon is big and bright.

Light pollution is more than an astronomy problem

2006-03-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

Many people are under the mistaken impression that light pollution is an issue that only concerns astronomers. While astronomers were among the first to complain about the growing effects of light pollution, they are not the only one suffering its affects. Most human beings... and even a large percentage of the creatures that inhabit the earth are also affected. Let's take a moment to see how.
Starting with the most obvious problem... light pollution is an incredibly wasteful problem. Think about it. Any light which is shining up into the night sky is certainly not accomplishing its intended task. Huge quantities of our declining energy reserves are consumed for absolutely no benefit whatsoever. The costs associated with this wasteful practice are simply staggering. $5-10 billion annually for the US alone... and this is only that portion which is shining straight up into the night sky. This doesn't even make a dent in the larger pie... lights which are shining down or sideways... but which are on all night long... even though the homeowner is not expecting company... or the business is closed. This number is many times larger. Anyway... back to light pollution.
Besides light shining up into the night sky... a major cause of sky glow... light pollution also takes the form of glare and light trespass. Glare is light shining in our eye making it difficult for us to see as we drive at night. The very lights that we turn on to enable us to see are actually making it difficult for us to see.
As bad as glare is, light trespass just might be worse. Light trespass is light shining across property lines. Sounds harmless enough, right? Wrong. Light trespass invades our privacy... it makes it hard for us to sleep. Light trespass just might be killing us too. This is no joke. Light at night has been linked to numerous human ailments including certain forms of cancer. Light Pollution and Human Health have been getting a lot of coverage lately in the media, and rightly so. Recent studies have shown that light at night reduces the bodies production of melatonin... the bodies number one cancer fighting component. This has been shown as a direct link to increased risk of cancer. The finding proved that melatonin rich blood fights cancer cells and melatonin depleted blood promotes the growth of cancer cells. Think about that the next time your neighbors lights are shining into your bedroom window.
As if all of this weren't bad enough, light pollution is also a threat to wildlife. Numerous species are having serious difficulties coping with the increasing amounts of light we humans are shining into their habitats. Very high up on the list of affected creatures are sea turtles. Light Pollution and Sea Turtles simply don't mix well. All species of sea turtle that call Florida home are either threatened or endangered... and light pollution has been shown to be a major contributing factor. Let me explain further. Female sea turtles return to the same beaches to next year after year. If they return and find bright condos have been built on their nesting beaches, one of two things generally happens. 1) The female chooses not to lay eggs here... and is basically taken out of the breeding population. 2) The female lays her eggs, but... the odds of survival for the hatchlings are dramatically reduced. The reason for this is fairly simple (though perhaps not overly obvious). Sea turtle hatchlings generally hatch at night. Then, under cover of darkness, they look for the brightest horizon. This is generally the ocean with moonlight or starlight reflecting off of it. If, however, the inland horizon is brightest... because of light pollution from improperly lit coastal development, the hatchlings follow their instincts... and head away from the ocean. These hatchlings are then either run over by cars... eaten by predators... or die of exhaustion or heat exposure when the sunrises.
Sounds like a serious problem now, huh? Good. Fortunately, the solution is fairly simple and straighforward (whew!) By choosing to install only night sky friendly / sea turtle friendly outdoor lighting products... you can dramatically reduce the effects that a given fixture will have on the night sky, your health... and the wildlife around you. Night sky friendly lighting is wildlife friendly lighting is sea turtle friendly lighting. The characteristics that make a light night sky friendly also make it sea turtle friendly.
Night sky friendly outdoor lights put all their light output down on the ground beneath them. They do not shine light directly up into the sky... greatly reducing sky glow. They also prevent their light output from crossing property lines... preventing them from shining into a neighbors windows... or into a sensitive wildlife area... like sea turtle nesting grounds. A simple way to determine if a light is "friendly" is to look at it when its turned on after dark. If you can see the light source (bulb), the light is not friendly. If you're just evaluating a fixture that's not yet installed.. you can make the same check. If the bulb is visible from any angle that's not beneath the fixture... the bulb is not friendly.
Night sky friendly outdoor lights used to be fairly difficult to find... but not any more. Night sky friendly lighting retailer, Starry Night Lights was founded this past year with one simple goal... to make night sky friendly outdoor lights as readily available as their less friendly counterparts. Simply point your web browser to www.StarryNightLights.com and checkout the largest selection of ordinance compliant, night sky friendly outdoor lighting products anywhere. Once you've found something that you like... you're only a point and a click away from having them delivered (for free) to your front door. How much easier can it get?

Secret Moon Friday Night

2005-12-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

The 2nd new moon of the month occurs tomorrow night (12/30). Known as the Secret Moon... or the Spinners Moon... the event is the opposite side of the coin from the blue moon... the 2nd full moon of the month. If you find yourself under clear skies this weekend.. .take advantage of the moon's absence... and go deep. The deep sky wonders of the winter sky are already well positioned for your viewing pleasure. If you're not an astronomer... that's ok. You can still get involved... by helping your astronomer neighbors to better enjoy their deep sky observing sessions. Simply turning out your outdoor lights will reduce light pollution and improve viewing conditions in your area.

Clear Skies Tonight!

2005-11-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Looks like we're in for some seriously clear skies tonight. Clear, transparent & rock steady is what the clear sky clock is calling for. I already got some nice views of the planet Venus. It was sitting nicely in the saddle of the mountains to the west of me. I also got a quick peak at the planet Mars... sitting in the southeastern sky. I was less thrilled with the view of Mars... likely because skies are expected to steady significantly in the coming hours... allowing for some (hopefully) high powered views.
Given the quality of the views expected tonight... I'm breaking out the ObDob... and inviting a few friends over to observe with me. The plan is to go deep... at least Caldwell Objects deep. Caldwell deep being at least a bit more aggressive than the standard Messier Objects. Not too tough given the whole setup, but... I'm expecting a quite enjoyable night.
The upcoming Thanksgiving weekend is looking to be awesome as well. We're hoping to create a new tradition... and are going to dutch oven a turkey down at Zion NP. There I'm planning to get quite aggressive... and go after a few ARP's as well. These generally require darker skies... and more aperture than most.

Conjunction Tonight!

2005-11-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

The Moon and the planet Mars will be in conjunction (alignment) tonight. Look for the pair to rise in the east around 4:15pm. The Moon should be obvious immediately, while Mars will become visible shortly after sunset (5:10pm). As an added bonus, M45 aka The Pleiades Star Cluster will be sitting just a few degrees to the north (left). The trio might just fit within the field of view of a pair of wide angle binoculars? Regardless, The Moon & Mars should be stunning in your lowest power, wide angle eyepieces. If skies are clear here in Park City (questionable lately), I hope to capture a picture of the event. The accompanying image was taken a few months back when the two were in a widely split conjunction… say… 4 or 5 degrees of separation. The upcoming event should be within 1 degree if memory serves correct. Hope you can get out and view the event!

Fraser Valley Astronomical Society

2005-11-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of dealing with Peter and Paul over at The Fraser Valley Astronomical Society. Sorry.. no Mary in the picture that I'm aware of :) Anway... These are some really nice folks. This caused me to revisit their website. I've got to tell you... its chock full of information... especially relating to astronomy information. I also found some very interesting light pollution information. Anyway.. Back to the astronomy infomation. They had all kinds of information relating to Telescope and Mirror Making. If you get a chance... be sure to visit The Fraser Valley Astronomical Society website at www.fvas.net.

Gorgeous Deep Sky Views Tonight

2005-10-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

I just came in to warm up a bit... and thought I'd comment on the nights viewing so far. I hit a few of my favorite fall objects already this evening. Globular star cluster, M15 looked especially fine tonight. I cranked the magnification up to 200x and it was razor sharp. I was able to resolve stars right into its collapsed core. Very impressive.
After this, I hit The Veil Nebula and The Dumbbell Nebula. Both looked sweet as well.... though not as overwhelmingly as M15. I think it has to do with the reduced transparency in the night sky. There seems to be some moisture around that's just not letting all the light shine through.
From here, I went after NGC891... an incredible edge-on galaxy in the constellation Andromeda. Unfortunately, the reduced transparency made this object all but disappear. It reminded me more of a ghost... than a galaxy. I had to use "averted-imagination" to see this tonight :(
Wanting to raise the stakes a bit, I moved the scope a bit to the south and snagged some sweet views of the Andromeda Galaxy.
Finally, I got some early views of the planet Mars. I only hit it at about 100x, but... when skies steadied (briefly) I was able to see some nice detail on the planets surface. I'm hoping to get to at least 200x before calling it quits.

New Moon Weekend Ahead

2005-10-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

The coming weekend will take the moon to within a couple of days of new. Tomorrow's moonrise will occur around 3:20am... with an 18% illuminated waning crescent moon rising above the eastern horizon. This late rise and tiny phase will pair up to make this an awesome weekend for deep sky observers. The prime targets of the fall night sky have already moved into position. The Veil Nebula, Globular Star Cluster M15, The Andromeda Galaxy, The Double Cluster in Perseus... to name just a few.

As if that wasn't enough... the planet Mars is at its biggest and brightest for the next 13 years! Skywatchers are encouraged to head out shortly after sunset to see Mars rising a few degrees south of The Pleiades Star Cluster. Those of you with a telescope will definitely want to give Mars a little while to climb into a steadier part of the sky before planning any serious observations. After that, you should be in for quite a treat! Incredible details have been visible on the martian surface for the last several weeks

Under A Clear, Dark Sky

2005-10-24T05:15:00.000-07:00

I got out with a couple of neighbors last night to do a bit of observing. They were quite excited about the prospect... having seen the "canon" sitting on the driveway on a few occasions. I was excited, having seen how the sky was setting up for the evening. I saw the first downward pointing flashlight appear almost precisely at 8pm (our scheduled meeting time). Wayne came over looked at the scope... and asked about the size of the mirror. Apparently, he'd been discussing his evening plans with a buddy. He'd told him the scope was pretty big... and his buddy got excited and said... like what.. 10 - 12". When Wayne said 20 or so... his buddy almost pooped his pants. I told Wayne that this was a 25". I could see a smile appear on his face.
We began our night by spining the scope around to the west and snagging M57, The Ring Nebula. Wow! I always enjoy trips to the ring. So did Wayne. I gave a quick explanation about what we were looking at... when the second downward facing light appeared next door. Wayne's wife Susan was on her way over as well. When she got here, it was obvious that she was quite the resourceful woman. She'd been delayed looking for a second flashlight. Not finding one... she grabbed the next best thing... a telephone with an illuminated face. Whenever she hit a button... this thing lit up like a flashlight. We gave Susan a quick view of the Ring... and moved on.
Our next stop was one of my favorite globular star clusters... M15 in Pegasus. They were both impressed with this object... and rightfully so. M15 is an absolutely amazing object to view... especially in a 25" under dark skies. We continued hitting highlights of the fall sky for a little over an hour... when my 2 year old daughter decided that I'd had enough free time. At this point, we did a quick wrap up... of The Pleiades Star Cluster and the red planet, Mars. The Pleiades is actually too big to be viewed in the narrow field of view of the big scope... while Mars looked OK. It was still a bit too low for ideal viewing... but nonetheless showed a decent amount of surface details. All in all... a good night!

Goin' Deep Sky Tonight

2005-10-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

Skies are again forecast to be clear and steady tonight. With that said, I'm gonna go deep tonight. Deep sky that is.
My primary objective tonight will be to track down a few of the gems of the fall night sky. Tops on that list is the biggest, baddest galaxy this side of the universe... The Andromeda Galaxy. Andromeda is the most distant object visible to the naked eye... and one of the finest deep sky objects out there. Visible as a faint smudge in smaller binoculars, Andromeda really comes into its own in telescopes of larger aperture... .especially when viewed under dark skies.
After viewing Andromeda, we'll likely hit M15... a beautiful globular star cluster in Pegasus. This is one of the finer globs in the night sky. It's also the best placed glob at this time of the year. I'll be just approaching the zenith as skies are darkening.
After going deep, we'll undoubtedly finish with some views of the red planet, Mars. Mars should be reasonably well placed for viewing by the time we're getting ready to wrap things up. A fitting end to a nice night under the stars. I'll leave the 6" setup on the deck... and set the alarm for about 5am... so as to get a view of Mars under even steadier sky conditions. I'm hoping to be able to hit it at over 300x. That would be a real treat... given its 20+" size.
Finally... there is a shot that the northern lights might show themselves at some point. Nothing's ever sure when it comes to aurora... not down here in Park City, anyway. But... aurora are a possibility... and always a welcome treat when they do show themselves.

Dark, Clear Skies Forecast For Tonight

2005-10-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

The evening forecast is looking stellar! As you can see from the accompanying Clear Sky Clock, skies will be crystal clear... and rock steady. Transparency will be a bit low, but... with 2 solid readings and one marginal one... I think it's definitely time to go deep. I may try to snag a few of the summer sky stragglers... like the Ring Nebula and the Veil Nebula. After that, I'll take in the incredible Andromeda Galaxy. This is THE jewel of the fall night sky. It is arguably the finest galaxy visible to northern observers... like me here in Park City. I'll also snag a bunch of other... lesser objects... before the moon rises... by which point... I'll switch my frame of mind to planetary observations... and the red planet, Mars.

The Planet Mars Takes Center Stage

2005-10-21T04:30:00.000-07:00

The red planet, Mars has taken over the nigth sky. It's currently at its biggest and brightest for the season... and for the next 13 years in fact. Mars is currently rising around 8pm... and is well placed for viewing by 10pm or so. Check out this sweet image taken by Larry Owens of Atlanta, Georgia, using a 14-inch Celestron. Pretty sweet, huh?
I've been out most clear mornings for the last couple of weeks... and only come close to a view like this once so far. But... I've certainly not given up :) Nope... not me. I'm hoping to get even sweeter views in the days and weeks ahead.
Of particular note in this shot is the visibility of a large dust storm running through the Valles Marineris... a huge canyon on the martian surface that is many times larger than our own Grand Canyon. This storm has just recently appeared... and has caught the eye.. and camera of many of the worlds finest astrophotographers.

Last Night's Conjunction

2005-10-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Skies cleared briefly last night... allowing me to snag a few quick pics of the conjunction between the planet Mars & the Moon.
The accompanying shot was taken with my Sony DSC-F717 digital camera and is actually a composite of two images. The first was a 1/4 second exposure... designed to expose Mars properly. The second was a 1/1000 second exposure designed to expose the Moon properly. The two were then combined using PhotoShop to create the displayed image.
I wish I'd have been able to see the pairing by morning... as they'd have been much closer at that point. Oh, well... I guess I should be happy to have seen any portion of the event... as forecasts were calling for significantly worse weather.

Conjunction Tonight!

2005-10-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Head outside shortly after dark and (if skies are clear) you'll see the red planet Mars rising alongside the waning gibbous Moon. The pair should be visible between 8 & 9pm... depending on your eastern horizon. Watch the pair cross the sky together in an event known as a Conjunction. As the evening progresses, the two will pull even closer.
Skies don't seem like they'll cooperate here in Park City :( So... I hope a bunch of folks around the world take and send in some pics of the event.

So so skies again :-(

2005-10-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

I was really psyched for some awesome views this morning. Unfortunately, skies (while clear) were not all that steady. I really couldn't get passed about 200x... and had issues even around this point. Stormy weather is forecast for the later part of the weekend, so... it could be well into the week before I'm again able to try to hit Mars hard.
We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.