Geminid Meteor Shower 2015

 

The Geminid Meteor Shower is one of the year's finest displays of meteors but you have to brave the cold to see it. The peak is Sunday December 13th and Monday December 14th, and with very little moonlight to distract, the viewing should be quite good. The constellation Gemini rises at 7:00 pm so the radiant of this shower should be high in the sky by late evening and the meteors visible in every direction.

The best way to enjoy a meteor shower is to find a dark open space, bring lots of blankets and warm clothes, and to be patient and enjoy the view directly overhead into the heavens. Although the meteors will appear to originate from the constellation Gemini, they scatter in all directions across the sky so your best view is looking upwards. Bring friends and enjoy the moment together.

Happy Viewing!

Full Moon Setting and Other Morning Sky Wonders

Planetary Lineup

The Full Moon is a delight to see rising in the evening, but as we have long nights in November and December, I find the moonset to be equally engaging. This morning the Moon was blazing in the west an hour before sunrise (around 6:00 here in the San Francisco Bay Area) and the 'belt of Venus' shrouded the horizon just below the Moon. And facing east, the recent planetary conjunction has stretched into a planetary lineup across the sky.

If you are up early and the sky is clear, take in the sights facing east and west. You won't be disappointed.

Image courtesy Sky & Telescope.

KFOG Broadcast - October 28, 2015

Today's conversation started out 'auf Deutsch' as Renee and I chatted a bit together in German language. But then we turned our attention to the magnificent morning sky and the conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Click here to listen.

Planetary Conjunction Shines in the Morning Sky

Planetary Conjunction

With the late onset of sunrise, many people that don't normally see the heavens in the morning are getting a glimpse of a striking alignment of planets that shine high in the eastern sky, rising well ahead of the morning sun. The three planets are Mars, Jupiter and Venus, in order from bottom to top. The top planet, Venus, is by far the most brilliant, a piercing white light that outshines every other object in the entire night sky, with yellow-white Jupiter paler by comparison but nonetheless quite bright itself. Below the two is faint Mars, harder to detect but a beautiful red-orange that completes the trio.

Over the next few days, the trio changes position rapidly, with an extremely close encounter between Jupiter and Venus on Sunday morning October 25th. Check out the changes daily and enjoy this spectacular alignment.

Sky & Telescope has an excellent write-up and diagrams. One of the images is reproduced here.

Saturn Fades in the West

Crescent Moon graces Saturn

After a long and glorious run in the night sky, Saturn is gradually fading into the west and will fade out of view in the coming weeks. Just before it is gone, the waxing crescent Moon will pass near it this week. For me, the evening sky with a young crescent Moon is always quite beautiful, a gentle curved glow that sometimes includes 'Earthshine' on the unlit part of the Moon visible to Earth.

Find a good southwestern horizon this week and enjoy the Moon as it graces the planet Saturn. Get out your binoculars or telescope for maximum effect!

Image courtesy Sky & Telescope.

KFOG Broadcast - September 24, 2015

Stopped in at the KFOG studios to talk with Mike, Greg and Renee about the upcoming eclipse and the supermoon. Click here to listen.

Total Lunar Eclipse of September 27, 2015 - in San Francisco!

Sunday September 27 we experience a total lunar eclipse visible from North America and of course here in San Francisco. This eclipse features the Moon passing nearly through the center of Earth's shadow, meaning that the Moon will remain in eclipse for over an hour and should be fairly dark, at least on one side. And from San Francisco we will see the unique situation of a Moonrise that is of a nearly fully eclipsed Moon, an unusual sight.

Total Lunar Eclipse - geometry

The eclipse takes several hours to occur, from first touch of the Earth's penumbral shadow to last contact, but the main part of the eclipse is the most exciting part, that of 'Totality' when the Moon's surface is fully darkened by the shadow of the Earth. From the west coast, totality starts at 7:13 pm and ends at 8:22 pm. Given that the Sun sets at 7:01 pm, the local conditions should lead to a very interesting Moonrise (just moments after the sunset) with nearly all of the Moon eclipsed.

The San Francisco Amateur Astronomers (SFAA) will be set up at Pier 15 along San Francisco's Embarcadero (just next to the Exploratorium) for public viewing, as the rising Moon should make a lovely picture just above Treasure Island and the San Francisco Bay. We will be there from 6:30 until 8:30 pm.

Here are several excellent resources on the eclipse:

EarthSky: http://earthsky.org/?p=51212

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_2015_lunar_eclipse

NASA: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/lunar.html 

This Week Facing East

This Week Facing East

The dawn sky is punctuated this week with a spectacular lineup of some of the brightest celestial objects in the heavens. The waning crescent Moon is the centerpiece of the eastern horizon in the hour before sunrise, shimmering next to Venus, currently a blazing gem of a ‘morning star’ due east, piercing the darkness of the horizon well before the first light of day, and remaining brilliant until the glow of sunrise washes out the planet.

Fall is a great time for seeing the morning sky since the days are getting shorter and the darkness lingers longer each morning, giving early risers like me a chance to get in some astronomy before starting my day in earnest. Each morning this week as I step out of my front door facing east, I await the spectacle of some of the brightest stars in the entire night sky and the wandering visitor Moon this week, taking the stage with Venus to amaze me and all who take a moment to savor this sight.

Image courtesy Sky & Telescope.