Friday, November 30, 2007

Geminids meteor shower 12/13/07

The Geminids is usually the best meteor shower along with the August Perseids during the year. The moon will be setting early after sunset so that will make observing more meteors. The meteor shower has many bright meteors and sometime trails called trains. Many are yellow. With bright ones and fainter ones you might see 60 per minute if you are looking at a dark sky site. (For me I never see that many no matter as I am busy writing down information about each meteor as fast as I can so I can back to watching after shutting off my red light ). I do this for research for the Meteor Society. Then I have a record of what I do too for the Meteor Observer Award for the Astronomical League.

Due to the meteor swarms orbit and orientation, the Geminid meteor shower rates rise slower than they fall (better before the peak for those in Asia it is early hours of Sat morning (where it will be the best).
In N .America , the Geminids will peak on 9-10 pm Thursday Dec 13th and onward through the night to dawn on Friday morning (12am-6am).Friday evening (if you want to try) will start well early in evening then decline as it goes towards later part of the evening and morning.

During the early evening you might also see some meteors called Earthgrazers that show early and skim through the tops of the atmosphere. These are usually very bright and long. I saw a very bright Perseid earthgrazer a couple of years ago during the Perseids and it rose from the East like a big orange firecracker , sparkling along its path

Many meteor showers are associated with comets which have left the meteoroids in their wake and "shower " us at certain times of the year. This one however is known to associated with not a comet but an asteroid called Phaethon. It is possibly an ancient dead comet that has and keep leaving more particles in its wake easy December.

The weather can still be mild so it is a great time to see some bright meteors. Use a lawn chair and take a sleeping bag and also bundle up with sweater, jacket etc

? let know

Good luck.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Rainbow cloud over Colorado

I have seen clouds like this within the last few months but did not have my camera handy. In any here is a a great photo posted 11/25/2007 (if not this date look in archives).
An Iridescent Cloud Over Colorado
Credit & Copyright: August Allen
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Catch Comet Holmes, other comets get an award and cool pin

Happy Thanksgiving day. Do you like astronomy? Are you interesting in observing and getting awards for your interesting endeavors? Contact you local astronomy club or the Astronomical League (http://www.astroleague.org/)
or me .
Those trying for comet silver and gold awards, amateur astronomers and other sky observers (see link below) can contact me for more information as I am the coordinator.
There are also many awards you can go dealing with meteors, constellations, telescope use and more.

Read: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/comet/comet.htm

What to do? observe / sketch or photograph 12 comets (see more below)
what do you get? a cool Comet Plaque (suitable for framing) and our cool comet obs award pic

I also have a (free) comet newsletter to find out more information.

Comet Holmes has lessened in brightness but still great in scopes and binocs. It is still quite large around the diameter of moon angular wise. I think it is around 5 mag or so. At the side is one of the best photos I took of Comet McNaught in January. We had just 4 days to view this splendid sight. (in the middle above the reddish hued sky on the bottom.)
My pics and more coming soon.

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: Lat 38.834, Lon -94.778: Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomical League / Astronomical Society of Kansas, KC, MO-Louisburg,KS: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/comet/comet.htm: Subscribe to (send your email to):CometObserversAwardAL-subscribe@yahoogroups.com:E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -:State of Kansas-JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

PLANETS FOUND FORMING IN PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER

One of my interests is extrasolar planets (planets beyond our system). This latest news describes possible planet formation around the Pleidies, a pretty little star cluster (that looks like a minuture big dipper) in constellation Taurus. Find the Pliedes with your telescope or binoculars.


PLANETS FOUND FORMING IN PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER
----------------------------------------------
Rocky terrestrial planets, perhaps like Earth, Mars or Venus, appear to be
forming or to have recently formed around a star in the Pleiades ("seven
sisters") star cluster, the result of "monster collisions" of planets or
planetary embryos.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0711/15pleiades/

HUBBLE ZOOMS IN ON HEART OF MYSTERIOUS COMET HOLMES

The comet has decreased to 3rd magnitude and supposedly someone said it has lost its color evenwhile it has grown in size (to our Sun). In the sky, this translates to the size of the moon higher in the sky. I will post more of my photos tomorrow. Meanwhile latest news on Hubble spying the comet

HUBBLE ZOOMS IN ON HEART OF MYSTERIOUS COMET HOLMES
---------------------------------------------------
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has probed the bright core of Comet
17P/Holmes, which, to the delight of sky watchers, mysteriously brightened
by nearly a millionfold in a 24-hour period last month.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0711/15cometholmes/

Monday, November 19, 2007

onight comet Holmes is in front of several stars.

Tonight comet Holmes is in front of several stars. Comet Holmes large fragment broke off and disintegrated into tiny dust particles which scattered to create the bubble we see. Catch the comet this week before full moon. Information suggest that the comet bubble cloud will expand in weeks (and months?) but will grow fainter as it continues to expand.
I will try to post more of my pics tomorrow.

more info at
Comet Holmes Now Bigger Than the Sun

Friday, November 16, 2007
By Robert Roy Britt
"The offset nature of the coma, seen in ground-based images, suggests "a large fragment broke off and subsequently disintegrated into tiny dust particles after moving away from the main nucleus," Hubble astronomers said in a statement Thursday."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311868,00.html

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Leonid Meteor shower Sunday 11/18 morning

The famous Leonid meteor shower will appear this Sunday morning.
Look for meteors streaming out from the sickle in the constellation Leo s it rises from the NE.
This will not be a great year as the Earth will not hit the major meteoric parts of the stream but it is supposed to be better in Asia.
You may see some bright ones however with trails called "trains."
I will post what I see. If anyone takes photos or see some good fireballs let me know .

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

My latest picture of CometHolmes Bubble


60 exposure to highlight outer bubble.That over exposes the inner part though.
Map to find the Comet see it below.












Saturday, November 10, 2007

It has been about 2 weeks when the comet Holmes erupted.


It has been about 2 weeks when the comet Holmes erupted. Finally I have some pics of several to post. Taken on 11/04/07 are 5 of my pictures taken in collage style of the surprising comet Holmes.
all 8 seconds long exp.
Top left with red filter
Top- right with green filter
Bottom- left with blue filter
Bottom- right with infra red filter
center - clear filter


Holmes amazing its tranformation and links to pics and more

First it was amazing what this comet did by exploding and zooming from 17 to magnitude 2.5 in a very short time (1 million times in brightness increase it was said).

Second it is amazing that this comet show has lasted so long as I thought it would fade away quite rapidly and not put on such a show for this length of time.
It has been a lot of fun to watch, observe and photograph.

There was another article in the Kansas City star recently from another AP press article entitled " Comet Explodes , interest booms," from a Knoxville, TN source and photo. So it is really good that our newspaper and now other are posting and telling people about this comet. I can't say the same for the inability of the press to post information about the Great Comet McNaught in January before it went too close to the sun and went below the equator.( We only had four good days after sunset to look and the comet though bright was more difficult to see as it was low on the horizon but still....)



The beautiful photo of Holmes and its fan tail
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071110.html
***
another beautiful photo in Apod of Comet Holmes with the tail at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071105.html
I received more information about its creation from the author (see the following below- with other links below that)
*
Hello,

thank you very much for all of your compliments and congratulations!
I got to much mails, contacting each of you.

The photo of comet Holmes is an average of 42 single shots (each 1 min) taken with an ccd camera ST 2000XM. For processing I used CCD-Soft, RegiStax and Photoshop (for individual masks)
Optic: 600mm f/6

Best regards
Sebastian Voltmer

***

Meanwhile comet expansion animation at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071030.html

***
Holmes shell expansion
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071103.html

**
Golden color photo
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071029.html

**
first good look and report
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071026.html
***
Nov 10 (if not seen that day look in archives)
http://www.spaceweather.com/
also more
(1) another nice photo of the tail of Holmes splitting off,
(2) good information about a theory about what made the brightness eruptions and

and this very cool
(3) if you have 3 D red and blue glasses
a 3d photo of the comet

***

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: Lat 38.834, Lon -94.778: Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomical League / Astronomical Society of Kansas, KC, MO-Louisburg,KS: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/comet/comet.htm: Subscribe to (send your email to):CometObserversAwardAL-subscribe@yahoogroups.com : : Eclipse sightings > http://eclipse-sightings.blogspot.com/: E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -:State of Kansas-JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador: #2572 IMCA

Friday, November 9, 2007

Hailstorm

Nice photos of hailstorms result spanish speaking country. Look at the size of the hailstones and the damage holes in buildings.

Monday, November 5, 2007

My photo collage of comet Holmes


It has been about 2 weeks when the comet erupted. Finally I have some pics of several to post. Taken on 11/04/07 are 5 of my pictures taken in collage style of the surprising comet Holmes.
all 8 seconds long exp.
Top left with red filter
Top- right with green filter
Bottom- left with blue filter
Bottom- right with infra red filter
center - clear filter

Holmes amazing its tranformation and links to pics and more

First it was amazing what this comet did by exploding and zooming from 17 to magnitude 2.5 in a very short time.
Second it is amazing that this comet show has lasted so long as I thought it would fade away quite rapidly and not put on such a show for this length of time.
It has been a lot of fun to watch, observe and photograph.
There was another article in the Kansas City star recently from another AP press article entitled " Comet Explodes , interest booms," from a Knoville, TN source and photo. So it is really good that our newspaper and now other are posting and telling people about this comet. I can't say the same for the inability of the press to post information about Comet McNaught in January before it went too close to the sun and went below the equator.



The beautiful photo of Holmes and its fan tail
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071110.html
***
another beautiful photo in Apod of Comet Holmes with the tail at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071105.html
I received more information about its creation from the author (see the following below- with other links below that)
*
Hello,

thank you very much for all of your compliments and congratulations!
I got to much mails, contacting each of you.

The photo of comet Holmes is an average of 42 single shots (each 1 min) taken with an ccd camera ST 2000XM. For processing I used CCD-Soft, RegiStax and Photoshop (for individual masks)
Optic: 600mm f/6

Best regards
Sebastian Voltmer

***

Meanwhile comet expansion animation at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071030.html

***
Holmes shell expansion
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071103.html

**
Golden color photo
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071029.html

**
first good look and report
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071026.html


Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: Lat 38.834, Lon -94.778: Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomical League / Astronomical Society of Kansas, KC, MO-Louisburg,KS: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/comet/comet.htm: Subscribe to (send your email to):CometObserversAwardAL-subscribe@yahoogroups.com : : Eclipse sightings > http://eclipse-sightings.blogspot.com/: E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -:State of Kansas-JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador: #2572 IMCA