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[...] Sunday, September 30th. Being the closest Full Moon to the September Equinox, this is known as the Harvest Moon. Note how the Moon seems to “linger” from night to night, rising less than 30 minutes apart on [...]
The Sky is Waiting.
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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.
Astro-Event of the Week: September 16th-22nd: The Harvest Moon.
This months’ Full Moon is the most well known: the Harvest Moon.
Contrary to popular myth, this moon is not the largest or brightest moon visible during the year; it is merely the closest full moon to the Autumnal Equinox. In days of yore, the Harvest Moon gave farmers a few extra hours of illumination in a season of dwindling twilight to bring in their crops. Along with the Easter and Blue Moon, its one of the last remaining “Moon names” to still found in general use. I guess the Sturgeon, Egg, and Hunger Moon weren’t all that sexy. Note also that, on successive nights, the moon rises nearly at the same time. This is due to the oblique angle of the ecliptic and the moons orbit to the local horizon at this time of year. For example, the full moon occurs on Monday, September 15th, at 5:13 AM EDT local and rises that night at about 6:35 PM for mid-northern latitudes; however, the rising times on the 14th and 16th are only different by -17 minutes and +19 minutes, respectively.
This weeks’ Astro-word of the week is draconic month. This is a lunar month that is measured from the time it takes the moon to pass from one ascending node on the ecliptic to the next: its length is 27 days, 5 hours, 5 minutes, and 35.8 seconds, respectively. Also called the draconitic or nodical month, it is a precession caused by the tidal forces of the sun’s gravity on the moons orbit, causing the nodes of the moon’s orbit to advance in a complete 360 degree circle once every 18.6 years. When a full moon occurs at an ascending node, a lunar eclipse occurs. As if anomalistic, sidereal, tropical and synodic months weren’t confusing enough! Impress your friends with this one… tell them Astroguyz sent you!