The Brightest Star of the Evening

Continuing the catch up with more on an astronomical theme – this one is from 05 December 2013.

In my previous entry I wrote about the wonders of sunsets and seeing Venus shine in the evening sky, at that stage I thought that was the best that Venus could get. A bright star within a darkening sky, but how mistaken was I?! A few days after this, Venus began to coincide with the rising of the moon and on this evening, with a sky that was clear apart from a few light smudges of remaining cloud that caught and reflected the dying oranges of the sunset, the moon and Venus were the brightest objects in the sky. Standing bright and clear, dominating the evening sky long before any of the other stars could be seen.

The Dying Rays of the Sun – 05 December 2013 (Copyright Carol Jones)

It was sometime later that I discovered that on the nights of the 05 and 06 December that I was seeing Venus at its brightest for this apparition. In fact at this point in time it was the third brightest object in the sky, after the sun and moon. Certainly on this evening the moon and Venus dominated the twilight skies, leading the way towards night.

The Moon and Venus – 05 December 2013 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Star of the Evening

Continuing the catch up with another astronomical themed blog – this one from 28 November 2013.

So far I’ve been writing about the morning skies in November, but they weren’t the only things that have been bright and amazing. The evening skies have also had there moments, less so on the grand scale of colour and dramatics but still something to behold.

Over the evenings towards the end of November, the sky has had its moments, while the sun had been setting the sky has been lit by a single bright star, visible long before any of the other stars are visible. Though really this sighting is not actually a star, but the planet Venus, which shone like a bright pin-prick of light, highlighting the darkening skies of night.

Star of the Evening – 28 November 2013 (Copyright Carol Jones)

On this evening, Venus shone out from a darkening sky that had been coloured with a rich warming glow of the setting sun. The last rays of the evening sun made the clouds present seem almost black and whereas the surrounding sky was alight with fiery oranges. As the sun sank lower, the remaining rays of light painted the base of the clouds with rich warm oranges, warmer and darker than those of the morning. Then out from this darkening sky, like a single headlight shining out of the darkness to light the way towards the night, shines the Star of the Evening.

Venus – 28 November 2013 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Great Balls of Fire

Catch up again – this blog dates from the 12 August 2013.

Summer might still be here at this point but the evenings had begun to draw in enough to make star gazing a viable option for the evenings, especially so as the nights were not yet bitterly cold.

This evening the sky was beautiful clear and as it was also supposed to be the best evening to see the Perseids Meteor Shower, so we’d headed out in hope if nothing else to view a bright pass of the Space Station that was due. As usual we gone down the road to our favourite viewing spot, which has good open views to the south. Here while we were waiting for the Space Station to rise, we watched as the stars began to appear in the darkening sky, more each minute as the sky darkened. Then suddenly there was this ball of flames that seemed to shoot out of nowhere and streaked across the sky, like a flaming gob-stopper. I felt that I should have ducked and shielded myself from the searing flames coming off of this meteor, but of course I didn’t and there wasn’t any heat anyway. Instead I just stood there entranced as it passed rapidly over head and burnt up in the atmosphere. Wow! Have to say that until that point the number of meteor’s I’ve seen could be counted on one hand, and all of those were nothing more than shooting pin pricks of light, nothing as amazing or as bright as this was!

While still recovering from the sight of the meteor, the Space Station rose, as they say time and tide wait for no man or woman and the Space Station wasn’t going to wait for me to regain my equilibrium. This evening though must have been one of those occasions when sights where set to be awe inspiring, for this night’s passage was to be one of the brightest passes I’ve seen. Rising from the south west where it brightened slowly to its full brightness, much brighter than any of the stars tonight, moving ever onwards across the sky, it passed overhead and then slowly dulled into eclipse as it moved into the south eastern sky, before eventually disappearing from sight.

It was really a very beautiful night out, the sky was clear and the stars bright, with the wonderful splurge of the Milky Way, clearly visible and for me a new constellation as I tried to learn the stars of Hercules. To me Hercules seems to be a strange stick-like man as though draw by a child, and running across the sky like the Roman mythological hero that this constellation is named after. While looking at stars there were more meteors from the Perseids Shower shooting across the sky, all of these were small and nothing more than pin pricks of light shooting across the heavens. Distracting all the same and in no more than five minutes the number of meteors I’d seen in my life had gone from a handful to double figures and beyond. Wow!!

New Toys!!

Got a new toy for the camera recently – a remote switch and as tonight has been the first night in over a fortnight where the skies have been clear, it was out to try our first attempts at night sky photography, and what a beautiful night it was. – Cold, crisp and clear, so that the stars were bright and alive. It almost felt that they could be plucked out of the sky and marvelled at in your hand.

After a few abortive attempts, including problems of getting the camera and tripod pointing in the correct alignment, on what was a very dark night, with fingers that quickly became numb and clumsy with the cold, I’m quite impressed with the results – though I think that 30 seconds is a bit too long as the stars appear slightly elongated.

One of my favourite constellations is Orion, so as its soon to disappear below the horizon for another summer, it had to feature again. Tonight it was definitely a classic view of Orion, the sky was clear enough to pick up all the stars forming this constellation and the variation of the colours was just so easy to see. So I love this photo, as the colour of the stars shows up really well, especially the orange of Betelgeuse.

Orion – 30 March 2013 (Copyright Ross Lockley)

But for impressive, it has to be the capturing of Comet Panstarr before its lost to our view. In this picture the Comet Panstarr can be seen as the slight smeary star, (down and left of centre) as it sinks slowly into the fog and light pollution from Galashiels, on the horizon.

Comet Panstarr – 30 March 2013 (Copyright Ross Lockley)

The Misadventures of Comet Hunting!!

The target “Comet Panstarr” is the astronomical highlight for me this month, and as such the task, should you wish to accept, is to view find it in the night skies. Here follows the adventures or misadventures of the Lost Naturalist and her companion to achieve this aim.

Sunday – Doesn’t begin well, snow showers on and off all day!! However, my loyal assistant dresses up like “Nanook of the North” and goes on a scouting mission hunting for the Moon and so the Comet Panstarr in the gaps between the quickly moving clouds and various snow showers!! No sign – just snow!

Monday – More snow on and off during the day – in fact in the morning, we’d got up to three or four inches of the stuff, accompanied though by some wonderful bright blue skies, unfortunately by the time night fell, the sky was socked in with clouds – No chance!!

Tuesday – A day when the temperatures rose as the cloud settled in and the snow melted rapidly, unfortunately it meant that all chance of seeing anything was lost in the cloud. Again!!

Wednesday – At last an evening, of biting coldness, but that meant the sky was crystal clear and stars shone brightly!! At last a decent opportunity to go Comet Panstarr hunting!!

Going out just after sunset, when the western sky still retained the last stains of the warm orange glow of the setting sun. As we waited for darkness to fall, there was the sudden whoosh overhead of a small flock of rushing birds, as they headed rapidly to their roosts for the night, and the icy stillness of the evening was disturbed by the final squabbles of the local Coots, settling down on a near by lake. Unfortunately this wonderful stillness was then shattered, as the quiet lane suddenly became the M6, as a number of cars passed by. Each of which slowed down to observe the activities of two lost or maybe mad Naturalists looking for a Comet!!

Even though the darkness of night had yet to fully fall, the tiny sliver of the crescent Moon shone exceptionally brightly, as though it was being lit by a spotlight. It was so well lit that the Earth shine shadow was really obvious to the naked eye, almost as though the rest of the moon was just out of focus. Through the scope, the Moon also revealed the Seas on the Moon as darker shadows with the darker Earth shine area. The scope also revealed the details of the craters on the thin crescent in full light, they were so bright and fresh that they felt exceptionally close, as though you could almost reach out and touch them, if you just had the courage. Its that same urge, that comes when you see that glossy new coat of wet paint and just have to put your finger on it!!

The Crescent Moon with Earth Shine – 13 March 2013 (Copyright Ross Lockley)

As the sky darkened the the surrounding stars also began to come into view, with Jupiter shining out as a bright beacon first. Followed more slowly by the various stars of Orion, beginning with the shoulders and working down the body as the sky progressively darkened, until just before we left, after the Moon had set, the whole constellation was visible.

On the Comet Panstarrs front, not so much luck. Doesn’t really help that we were not looking in quite the right area of space! We were looking above the Moon, unfortunately by Wednesday the Comet would have been below the Moon – Oops!! Also it doesn’t help here; that the surrounding hills mean that the Moon set before it was really dark in the west.

Thursday – Yesterday was another evening where the skies were covered by cloud!!!

Friday – Had thought that this evening was going to be another write off, as just before the sun set it had been raining again, and to the front of the house the sky was still covered in thick dark clouds, however, outback the clouds had broken and the Moon shone out – signalling another attempt.

As time was moving on and the Comet Panstarr would by now be low in the sky and soon setting behind the surrounding hills, we dashed down the road, to another view point, lower hills here and this time armed with a decent set of instructions. There was the crescent Moon and about a hand span below and to the right, there in full view in the scope’s eye piece (unfortunately not visible to the naked eye) and almost setting on the horizon, was the Comet Panstarr!!! A glorious fuzzy mass, but somehow amazing and very wondrous!! Not at all like the classic view of a Comet, with a tail streaking out behind, just a fuzzy mass, but still something that once gone from view in a few weeks time, won’t return again in my life time, so amazing and wondrous!!

The Moon – Below which but not visible would be Comet Panstarr – 15 March 2013 (Copyright Ross Lockley)

A Weekend with the Stars

Originally these had been going to be a number of short blogs about star gazing last weekend (15 February – 18 February) but as they are all related I decided to post them all as one.

Beginning last Friday, the day of the meteorite strike in Russia (amazing pictures of which can be seen here – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21475858) and the close flyby of a passing asteroid, so definitely a night for astronomy. This was especially so, as the sky was in a perfect condition, cloudless and the stars were amazingly bright against the inky blackness. The success of the night was the view of the International Space Station as it rose in the south west and travelled as a bright star across the sky, passing as it went through my favourite constellation of Orion, before fading back into eclipse. The less successful event of Friday was the hunting of the asteroid as it passed by (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21442863). Going out a number of times, during what was supposed to be the most optimum period, armed with binoculars and star maps, and looking as hard as we could, it remained as elusive as a passing asteroid might, when it misses!

Another clear night on Sunday, this one also cold and crystal clear, with the grass and surrounding vegetation covered with some amazing ice crystals, which in themselves almost distracted me, but with such clear skies the opportunity was too good to miss. Tonight’s highlight was the view of Jupiter through the scope, which gave good views of the planet and its four largest moons. Even with the additional magnification of the scope, the four largest moons, Ganymede, Europa, Io and Callisto, are just pinpricks of light. Not sure though, considering the many million of miles distance between Earth and Jupiter why I should expect anything else. The night sky also produced good views of the Plough from where we followed the arc to Arcturus, but as with so many times before could not speed on to Spica, which was below the horizon.

To complete a weekend of star gazing, Monday evening remained clear and cold with another good opportunity for star gazing, as the stars seemed almost close enough to touch. This was just so much the case for the Moon tonight, which when the scope was trained on the waxing crescent was so brightly lit that the craters, especially on the boundary with the dark side, were amazingly clear. Wow! Not sure I’ve ever seen them so amazingly clear. It was as though they had only just been made and so close I felt I could almost reach out and touch them. With a sight like this I am inspired to go and find the necessary adapter to attach my camera to the scope so that I can take some pictures. Though the Moon was the highlight, it was not the only feature of the evening, managed also to train the scope on Orion’s belt for the nebula. I know my favourite constellation; that I just can’t get enough off, as for the nebula – a melting pot for new stars, something I find very difficult to get my head round!! New stars forming in front of my very eyes! Wow!

Star Gazing

Out later tonight to have a look at Jupiter and her moons, on an evening that was decidedly more autumnal than previous evenings, where you could hear the slow continual fall of leaves, smell the damp in the air and watch the slow settling of the mist in the valley.

Before the mist thickened and oblitorated the stars, it is easy to use the telescope to pick out the brightest star in the east at the moment, which is in fact the planet of Jupiter. Using the telescope the planet expands to show three of her moons, ranging in a line from 8 o’clock to 2 o’clock – Callisto and Ganymede, then the planet Jupiter, followed by Io. Wow! Even using the telescope against the bright spot of Jupiter the moons are but minor pinpricks of light.

Then to end an evening of star gazing, there was a quick look at one of my favourites, the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. Through the telescope, instead of being a small patch of twinkling stars, that could almost be a pimple on the universe, the Pleiades become a living, bright cluster of stars, with many further stars appearing behind them. An almost living breathing creature!

Pleiades (or the Seven Sisters) – taken with a point and shot camera – 21 October 2012 (Copyright Ross Lockley)

Dark Side of the Moon

Nipped out early this evening, before the sun had fully set to watch the passing of the Space Station again – its really quite an addictive activity, especially on calm, clear evenings.

Tonight’s pass was considerably earlier than Monday’s, so at this point the sun had hardly set, the sky was still light in the west, and the ducks on the local pond were still quacking happily, as they settled down for the night. Disturbed just occasionally by the angry out burst of a Coot.

While waiting for the Space Station to appear from the south-west, I watched the sky slowly darken with the few remaining clouds standing out against the still light horizon, like black islands floating in the sea of the space. Above was the new crescent moon, which shone brightly tonight. The new moon looked like it had just been freshly washed, and seemed to hold the old moon within its new crescent arms. I know it is just the reflection of the sun off of the surface of the earth, lighting a wonderful view of the dark side of the moon, but beautiful still. Then as the sky slowly darkened and the occasional star began to twinkle, the Space Station suddenly appeared as a bright light and floated slowly across the sky, until as suddenly as it appeared it, eclipsed and was gone again.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Wow! What a wonderful night, following a day where it has rained on and off for long periods, the atmosphere has cleaned up wonderfully and now darkness has fallen, the stars are amazingly bright against the clean inky blackness. Autumn is a good time to watch the stars as darkness falls early, and the temperatures haven’t dropped yet to freezing levels.

Tonight the first find was the Plough – always easy to find and then follow the arc to Arcturis, again I’ve missed speeding on to Spica, as it was below the horizon still. Also not yet risen as is my favourite constellation Orion, but by the time we see this, we will have left autumn and be in winter. However, lots still to see with Cassiopeia, Hercules and one of my favourites, the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, twinkling like the stars of the nursery rhyme. So clear was it tonight, that across the sky, the Milkyway stained the night like a waft of smoke, seemingly caught in a snap shot. As for the highlight; that was the Space Station as it rose from the south-west and travelled south across the sky, until it eclipsed; winking out as suddenly as it had risen.

Finally turning for home the earthly nature of our existence is brought home by the sudden sodium glare of the lights on the horizon from a nearby town and the rumble of traffic from the main road at the bottom of the valley, all of which had faded out while I was lost to the universe.

To find out more about the sky this month – follow this link:- http://www.astronomy.co.uk/skytonight

Lost to the Universe

One of the wonders of beautiful spring days, hopefully means that darkness falls fairly early and the night skies are clear.

What a brilliant evening sky we have tonight, almost clear of clouds and the stars are very bright.

Tonight’s show included the waxing of the crescent moon. This evening the moon was showing between the Scots Pines behind the house, and was just at the right stage to show the earthshine, where sunlight is reflected from the earth to show the missing portion of the crescent moon, often called “the old moon in the new moon’s arms”. Then to the left of the moon was Jupiter and above that Venus, both very bright. Turn further left and my favourite constellation comes into sight – Orion, just now showing between the trees and soon to be lost from sight until next winter, as it will so be setting before dark. Further searching shows the Plough, and following the arc of the Plough leads to Arcturis and then when it rises it would have been to speed on to Spica (not visible yet this evening, when I was out). Turn again and the North Star is visible though the Little Bear (Ursa Minor) itself, was hardly visible as yet.

To find out more – follow this link:- http://www.astronomy.co.uk/skytonight