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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.
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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.
Reader Feedback, New Changes and More
Observing ‘scopes are happy scopes…
(photo by the author).
You responded, and we listened.
Well, maybe complained is more the term. But after a short bit of consideration, we did indeed implement a few changes that we felt were warranted. Anyhow, if you’ve read this far, you’re not a spam-spewing robot, and maybe while you don’t necessarily agree with everything on this site, at least you’re paying attention…
Let me explain. Over the years, we’ve picked up recurring gigs at several other sites. Astroguyz.com, however, is our home, our blog, and our soapbox. We like to keep things fun, about science and astronomy with maybe a dash of science fiction thrown in. We rarely get political or engage in mainstream controversy (see: �having fun� above) except in so far as politics intersect with science (say, global warming or evolution). Over the years, our �how to observe� and space news efforts have mostly moved on to other sites.
Readers from those sites, however, may find themselves back here. Often, it’s because there’s a topic I’ve researched extensively in the past with information that might only be available on this site. Say �Black and Blue Moons for the coming decade�, or �how many alien Voyagers exist in our galaxy?�
Again, all fun stuff worthy of the soapbox of a personal blog.
Anyhow, a few readers expressed dismay at the layout of our blog. To be honest, we were never particularly happy with the popup banners in the design… they’re gone. We also have a rule that, while ads are a necessary evil, they won’t be more the 50% of what you see… that’s less than many mainstream news agencies. Believe me, as a freelancer, we don’t make nearly as much money from ads on the site as folks imagine, yet we have to play the game to keep the lights on.
And as for the content, it’ll still be a grab bag of what’s in our brain and stuff that we feel should see the light of day, but just doesn’t fit anywhere else. That could be personal meanderings (such as this post), a really neat astronomy video that we feel you just have to see, an excerpt from our latest story, or a review of a classic sci-fi or science book that we’d like to share.
We understand we can’t please everyone, nor should we try. We’re very unlikely to engage in arguments with folks on social media, especially when they degrade into ad hominem attacks… true story, I’ve actually had to block folks for arguing with us about Star Wars (sorry, a �parsec� is a measure of distance, not time).
I’m more likely to ignore you than engage in pointless bickering, though legitimate constructive criticism is always welcome.
And I’ll let you in on another small secret: we’re more likely to discuss the merits of this blog, on this blog. On other sites we write for, we welcome discussing the content of the specific article, and we do try hard to respond to everything worthy of attention in the forum it was published.
Well, that’s it for October, 2017 AD… we promise that it’s back to “having fun� next month.
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