CURRENT MOON
moon phases
CURRENT PLANETS and brilliant stars in early July. Directions and times are for the northern subtropics and vary somewhat for other latitudes.
• Bright & golden Mercury is close to the western horizon at dusk, sets WNW after dark.
• Bright & orange Mars is SW at dusk, sets west near midnight.
• Bright & yellowish Saturn is SSW at dusk, sets west after midnight and is
accompanied very closely by the bright and blueish star Spica.
• Very brilliant off-white Jupiter rises ENE predawn, is low east late dawn.
• Extremely brilliant white Venus rises ENE predawn, is low east before sunrise and is
accompanied very closely by the bright and orange star Aldebaran.
• Brilliant & blueish star Sirius will rise before the Sun late July.
• Brilliant white star Canopus will peek above the horizon before the Sun around late August.
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 SkyWeek | Sky and Telescope TV
& 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 *****
See the comments or the links above.
Events earlier than those listed below will be found in previous blog entries.
***** Past Events *****
Photo Op - Crescent & Morning "Stars"
Image created with Stellarium, a free download.
July 15 before Dawn
ENE before dawn the bright & orange star Aldebaran and the ">" shaped Hyades star cluster will be visible close to extremely brilliant white planet Venus. The tiny dipper shaped Pleiades star cluster will be visible well above very brilliant off-white Jupiter.
Even in the very bright dawn shortly before sunrise the thin crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter will still be visible.
(For earlier events see previous blog entries.)
Past 24 Hours Visitors
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All Time Visitors
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REVISED FORECAST!.VERY IMPORTANT NEWS=7/12/12 Photo At 3:19 PM (
Ralfo)
Of AR1521,AR1520 & AR1519...X-FLARE! Big sunspot AR1520 unleashed an X1.4-class solar flare on July 12th at 1653 UT. Because the sunspot was directly facing Earth at the time of the blast, this is a geoeffective event. Stay tuned for updates about possible CMEs and radio blackouts. Solar flare alerts:
northern lights from the observation deck (
blu56jay)
1h14 AM - The storm intensified drasticly and reached a G3 Level (Strong) with an Index of KP7! (Severe).Auroras were briefly visible to 110° on highest! Great Auroras show since August 2003!!! Somes shots the focus is quite bad because of the VERY Hazy conditions.It was still very warm to at this hour with 69F/21C!
Taken east of Grafton Iowa, 7/14/2012
Oh boy what a beautiful sight. A CME from the sun has hit us and sparked this wonder of nature.
A panorama of two photos and the streak is a satellite crossing the visual path.
Jupiter, Venus, Taurus and Moon
This morning offered a treat just before sunrise. The waning crescent moon is seen here nestled between Venus, Jupiter and Aldebaran. The Hyades and Pleiadies are also in this frame!
Endeavour Leaving for California (
Skyepony)
Endeavour Leaving for California (
Skyepony)
Endeavour Leaving for California (
Skyepony)
Headed to the International Space Station with 1,000 pounds of cargo on board.
Even ice cream
Pan Starrs and the New Moon as seen from Joshua Tree National Park, California
the skies over Deming NM, March 12, 2013.
Looking out toward Ventura from Mt.McCoy in Simi Valley, CA. Comet with the crescent moon made for an excellent shot with the setup of the city lights and the ocean, and the colorful skies following sunset.
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ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano left for Baikonur, Kazakhstan today, his last stop before heading to the International Space Station on 28 May.
His launch on a Soyuz rocket will be the culmination of more than two years of preparation that has seen Luca training in Russia, Canada, Japan, Europe and the US at facilities of the Station partners.
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg tries her space suit at Baikonur cosmodrome May 17, 2013. Nyberg is part of a three person team scheduled to launch for the International Space Station on May 29.
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg checks equipment during a training session at Baikonur cosmodrome May 17, 2013. Nyberg is part of a three person team scheduled to launch for the International Space Station on May 29.
Houston now controlling...
PaperModelers.com
Find updates and live video at
Spaceflight Now | Delta Launch Report | Mission Status Center.
LOL! Nice replica, looks more like Kansas though, heh.
Published on Dec 6, 2012
A burst of flame from a J-2X Powerpack test-firing lights up the sky on Dec. 5, 2012 at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. For the first time, the Space Launch System team invited Twitter followers behind-the-scenes for an all-day Tweet Chat, allowing the public to track test day activities and ask questions during this 1,286-second test. (NASA/SSC
Will try to see it.
Time to start thinking about what you want to pack for Mars.
LoL
Could be.
Now entering the final 60 minutes until the Delta 4 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral at 8:27 p.m. EDT. Here's a look at some stats about today's mission. This will be:
The 362nd Delta rocket launch since 1960
The 22nd Delta 4 rocket mission since 2002
The 31st RS-68 main engine used
The 29th-32nd GEM-60 solid rocket motors flown
The 436th production RL10 engine to be launched
The 25th RL10B-2 engine launched
The 18th Delta 4 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral
The 18th use of Delta 4 by the Air Force
The third Medium+ 5,4 configuration to fly
The 60th Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle flight
The 71st United Launch Alliance mission since 2006
The 15th Delta 4 under the ULA banner
The 5th ULA launch this year
The first launch of the Delta family in 2013
The 5th Wideband Global SATCOM satellite
The second Block 2 WGS satellite
The third WGS on Delta 4
Yeah, I wish we could get them the funding to do all that they know how to do and more.
You mentioned packing bags earlier.When I was a kid, I thought I might be doing that by now. :o(
Time to head to my viewing spot.
I think we were born half a century too early.
Clear skies & good luck!
Nice contrail for the first couple minutes.
Could see when separation of booster occurred and the ignition of the second stage. About a minute after that, along the path, a cloud appeared, bright white, obviously a bit of contrail reflecting the setting sun's light.
Super cool!
Wish you could have been here LC.
Sent Skye a WUmail reminder. Maybe she got some pics.
Thank you again. I would have missed it.
Cool!
Glad you caught it.
Was a great one!
Two more burnsOne more burn will be executed by the second stage to place the payload in its desired orbit.I'll go see the Delta IV Heavy launch at Vandenberg in late August and maybe I'll go see the shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Center this weekend.
A successful insertion into orbit.
A mission that will help our soldiers in the field.
Perfect beginning to a Memorial Day weekend.
Hope that the capabilities that this series of sat launches bring are never needed, but glad that we have them if we do.
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