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Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.
Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.
The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.
Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.
Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.
Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.
A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.
12.01.10: Asteroid 2010 AL30 to Make a Close Pass Wednesday.
An interloper to the Earth-Moon system is paying us a visit tomorrow. Asteroid 2010 AL30 is gliding past us at a distance of 78,000 miles, only a little over three times the distance of the geosynchronous satellites and about one –third the Earth-Moon distance, an approach worth noting. First detected by astronomers conducting the LINEAR Near Earth Object survey on Monday, January 11th, 2010 AL30 appears to be a 10-meter class object, and its one year solar orbit raises the possibility that it may be a spent man-made object currently in orbit about the Sun. This has occurred previous, with the recovery of J002E3 in 2002, which gave away its Earthly manufacture due to the presence of titanium oxide paint (a highly un-asteroid-like coating!) in its spectral signature. Interestingly, the final stage Apollo boosters that sent men to the Moon were about 18 meters long and about 7 meters in diameter. Some objections have been raised ABOUT this hypothesis, however, because 2010 AL30’s velocity is inconsistent with a man-made object. Goldstone radar intends to monitor AL30 during its pass Wednesday, January 13th 2010. Amateur astronomers with large apertures and/or CCD imaging capability should be able to pick up AL30 as a swift moving, 14th magnitude (think faint) star gliding through the constellations Orion, Taurus, and Pisces. Chalk up another miss in the Near Earth Object category!