Casual Astronomy, Spaceflight News and Lower California Weather
Dragon Captive at Space Station (see comments 289+)
Posted by: LowerCal, 10:40 PM GMT on February 26, 2012 +8
CURRENT MOON

moon phases

CURRENT PLANETS (and brilliant stars) as of late March / early April
• Very brilliant off-white Jupiter low west early dusk, sets WNW mid-evening
• Very brilliant white Venus west at sunset, sets WNW late evening
• Brilliant & blueish star Sirius south early dusk, sets WSW after midnight
• Brilliant white star Canopus close to south horizon at dusk, sets SSW mid-evening
• Brilliant & orange Mars east at dusk, sets WNW before dawn
• Very bright & yellowish Saturn rises east after dark, very low WSW at dawn
• Moderately bright & golden Mercury rises east early dawn, close to east horizon at dawn

Directions and times are for the northern subtropics and vary somewhat for other latitudes.


Scroll past the links below to find special events for current and future dates.
Scroll farther to find past events.

***** Links *****

Today - SpaceWeather.com
also EarthSky,
Astronomy Picture of the Day,
Lunar Photo of the Day,
365 Days of Astronomy
& Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
This Week - SkyandTelescope.com - This Week's Sky at a Glance
also Jack Horkheimer - Star Gazer, Current Scripts
This Month - SkyandTelescope.com - Sky Tour Podcasts
also HubbleSite - Tonight's Sky: Your guide to constellations, deep sky objects, planets, and events
Anytime - Stellarium (free planetarium for your computer)
also Sky & Telescope Interactive Sky Chart (online planetarium)

Visible Satellites:
Simplest - Satellite Flybys by SpaceweatherPhone.com
More satellites and more info - Heavens-Above.com.

Launches:
Spaceflight Now - Worldwide Launch Schedule
also Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule
& Wallops Flight Facility Launch Webcast & Blog
Reentries - Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies - Upcoming & Recent Reentries

Live Aurora Cams:
Sodankyla, Finland,
Kiruna, Sweden,
Jokkmokk, Sweden (cam 4),
Jokkmokk, Sweden (cam 5),
Abisko, Sweden,
Reykiavik, Iceland,
Yellowknife, Canada (click on CONNECT AURORAMAX LIVE),
& Poker Flat, Alaska


Most events described below can be viewed with your eyes alone.
Occasionally simple binoculars will improve the view and that will be noted.

***** Current & Future Events *****

Cape Canaveral Falcon 9 Launch

Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray and Kevin O'Connell

Mission: Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Demo Flight 2
Spacecraft: Dragon C2+
Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9
Launch from Cape Canaveral AFS, Florida
May 19
0855 GMT
4:55am EDT (local time)
1:55am PDT.
no earlier than (NET)
May 22
0744 GMT
3:44am EDT (local time)
12:44am PDT.

Berthing at the International Space Station (ISS)
May 22
1505 GMT
11:05am EDT
8:05am PDT.

If all the ambitious mission goals are met the SpaceX Dragon capsule will be the first private commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and it will also return cargo to Earth.

Launch status updates are at
Spaceflight Now | Tracking Station | Worldwide launch schedule.

More details and updates appear on a launch blog at
Spaceflight Now | Dragon Mission Report | Mission Status Center.

You can find a live pre-launch and launch broadcasts at
NASA TV via cable, satellite or internet and
SpaceX.



Events earlier than those listed below will be found in previous blog entries.

***** Past Events *****

Moon Rides with Jupiter (& Jupiter's Moons)

WunderPhoto: Jupiter, Venus and the crescent moon....Day 2 by rds817 — Sunday February 26, 2012

February 26 after Sunset
A crescent moon will travel beside the brilliant off-white planet Jupiter. Below them is the brilliant white planet Venus. Jupiter and Venus will appear very close March 12 & 13.

As the sky darkens through binoculars as many as four of Jupiter's largest moons can be seen.

Interactive Animation of Jupiter's Moons - Current, Past and Future


Jupiter & Venus' Cozy Evenings

WunderPhoto: Jupiter & Venus from the Front Yard by phnielsen — Monday March 12, 2012

March 12 & 13 after Sunset
Brilliant off-white planet Jupiter travels close to even more brilliant white planet Venus.

As the sky darkens through binoculars as many as four of Jupiter's largest moons can be seen.

Interactive Animation of Jupiter's Moons - Current, Past and Future


Virginia Nightlight Cloud Launches

Milky white tracer clouds from a prior mission.
Credit: Miguel Larsen/Clemson Univ

Mission: Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX)
Launch Vehicle: Terrier-Improved Malemute
Launch from Wallops Flight Facility, Virgina
March 23
12:00-3:00am EDT
March 25
morning
March 27
12:00-5:00am EDT
2:00-5:00am EDT


".... where the rockets may be visible while the motors are burning ...."
Credit: NASA/Wallops


".... the projected area in which the chemical tracers released from the rockets may be visible ...."
Credit: NASA/Wallops

The Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) will study the 200-300mph ultra-high level jet stream at the edge of space 60-65 miles above the Earth's surface. For details on the mission see
NASA - NASA Jet Stream Study Will Light up The Night Sky.


Crescent & Planets PhotoOps
(and beautiful binocular & naked eye views too.)

March 24-27 after Sunset
There will be good photo opportunities with the crescent moon in the western sky. (See the series of images just below.) Total darkness comes about 1½ hours after sunset. Between half an hour to an hour after sunset are some nice twilight skies. You can step outside any evening starting now, see the brilliant planets Jupiter and Venus, get an idea of lighting at various times and take some test shots.

After dark the two star clusters closest to Earth are easily seen above Jupiter and Venus. To the naked eye the Pleiades cluster appears as a tiny white dipper shaped pattern of stars standing above brilliant white Venus. The Hyades cluster appears farther above as a larger V-shaped pattern of stars with the bright and orangeish star Aldeberan at one corner. Binocular views of these star clusters are spectacular.

Crescent Moon, Venus & Jupiter - March 24, 2012 45 min. after Sunset


Crescent Moon, Venus & Jupiter - March 25, 2012 45 min. after Sunset


Crescent Moon, Venus & Jupiter - March 26, 2012 45 min. after Sunset


Crescent Moon, Venus & Jupiter - March 27, 2012 45 min. after Sunset

Images created with Stellarium, a free download.


Vandenberg Delta IV Launch

Photo credit: USAF/Airman 1st Class Lael Huss

Mission: National Reconnaissance Office Launch 25 (NROL-25)
Launch Vehicle: Delta IV Medium+ (5,2)
Launch from Vandenberg AFB, California
March 29
2230-(March 30)0015 GMT
6:30-8:15pm EDT
3:30-5:15pm PDT (local time).
March 30
2238-(March 31)0023 GMT
6:38-8:23pm EDT
3:38-5:23pm PDT (local time).
April 2
2304-? GMT
7:04pm-? EDT
4:04pm-? PDT (local time).
April 3
2312-? GMT
7:12pm-? EDT
4:12pm-? PDT (local time).

The smoke column produced by two solid rocket boosters will be easily visible for this afternoon launch.

Launch status updates are at
Spaceflight Now | Tracking Station | Worldwide launch schedule.

More details and updates appear on a launch blog at
Spaceflight Now | Delta Launch Report | Mission Status Center.

You can find a live launch webcast at
United Launch Alliance.


Annular Solar Eclipse

Photo Credit: sancho_panza
May 20
Partial begins: 2056 GMT
Annular begins: 2206 GMT
May 21
Annular ending: 0139 GMT
Partial ending: 0249 GMT

A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT VIEWING THE ECLIPSE:
"....no matter what, do not use "filters" such as smoked glass, stacked sunglasses, polarized filters, camera filters, candy wrappers, or compact discs. They might reduce the Sun's glare, but enough harmful radiation can sneak through to damage your eyes. Only use materials specifically manufactured for safe solar viewing, or #14 arcwelders glass."

That quote is from Safely View the Upcoming Eclipse and Transit - Observing Highlights - SkyandTelescope.com which gives directions for additional viewing methods such as projecting an image, etc.


Map credit: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC
For a explanation of all the lines and terms on the map see
NASA - Key to Solar Eclipse Maps.

See a zoomable and clickable NASA - Annular Solar Eclipse Map that will show specific times and amount of Sun eclipsed for any locations you select.

Some phase of the eclipse will be visible for most of North America before or during sunset. The path of annularity (where the Sun will appear as a "ring of fire" arround the Moon) is at least 150 miles wide. The path of annularity makes landfall at the California-Oregon border and continues into NW Texas. See the general visibility map for North America.


Past 24 Hours Visitors
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All Time Visitors
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Categories:Astronomy Spaceflight
Updated: 4:30 PM GMT on May 25, 2012   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (310)
Canaveral Launch Success! (see comment 649)
Posted by: LowerCal, 10:19 PM GMT on August 15, 2011 +11
On the east side of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) is a circular area of low clouds rotating counterclockwise. High clouds above it are moving clockwise. Deep convection is bursting near the center.UPDATE: A satellite loop of the system described is in comment 1. Similar systems continue to appear. Below I've added self updating satellite images and surface maps of the area.I'll add loops of similar systems that I see to the comments. Currently there are...
 
 
Categories:Astronomy Spaceflight Sea of Cortez Mesoscale Convective Vortex Earthquake
Updated: 2:21 AM GMT on February 25, 2012   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (659)
Sky&Telescope Sky Chart is Back! (see comment 225)
Posted by: LowerCal, 10:39 PM GMT on June 20, 2011 +4
CURRENT MOONmoon phasesScroll past the links below to find special events for current and future dates.Scroll farther to find past events.***** Links *****Today - SpaceWeather.comalso EarthSky,Astronomy Picture of the Day,Lunar Photo of the Day,365 Days of Astronomy& Bad Astronomy | Discover MagazineThis Week - SkyandTelescope.com - This Week's Sky at a Glancealso Jack Horkheimer - Star Gazer, Current ScriptsThis Month - SkyandTelescope.com - Sky Tour Podcasts also ...
 
 
Categories:Spaceflight Astronomy
Updated: 2:55 AM GMT on August 12, 2011   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (227)
Astronomy & Spaceflight
Posted by: LowerCal, 4:48 PM GMT on November 16, 2010 +6
CURRENT MOONmoon phases
 
 
Updated: 11:11 PM GMT on June 15, 2011   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (415)
Crescent Venus in Binoculars  (see comment 140)                                                               Shuttle Discovery Launch, No Earlier Than November 30  (see blog entry & comment 84) 
Posted by: LowerCal, 2:47 AM GMT on October 22, 2010 +1
CURRENT MOONmoon phasesCURRENT PLANETS• Bright & reddish Mars setting WSW soon after dusk• Brilliant off-white Jupiter ESE after dusk, sets west early morning• Brilliant & blueish star Sirius rises ESE before midnight, SSW at dawn• Bright & yellowish Saturn rises east before dawn, ESE at dawn• Brilliant white Venus rising ESE before sunriseDirections and times are for the northern subtropics and vary somewhat for other latitudes.
 
 
Updated: 6:02 PM GMT on November 15, 2010   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (146)

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