Venus, the bright star Spica and Mars form a triangle in the evening sky over Adelaide on Friday 29 August. Dim Saturn is down below, just above the trees. You will probably need to click to embiggen in order to see all the stars and planets clearly. Tonight (Wednesday, September 1) Venus and Spica are at their closest. For those of you not covered in cloud this sight should be very pleasing indeed.
Posted by Astroblog
The celestial trio (Venus, Mars, Spica – brightest star in constellation Virgo) is visible a few minutes after sunset to early evening on Monday (Aug 30.) and Tuesday (Aug. 31) in the Philippines. This alignment can fit the field of view of any binoculars. On Sept. 2 and 3, the trio will almost form a
Posted by The Sky Above
This is one of the strangest looking craters ever found on Mars, and this platypus-tail-shaped depression, called Orcus Patera, is an enigma. The term patera´ is used for complex or irregularly shaped volcanic craters, but planetary scientists aren´t sure if this landform is volcanic in origin. Orcus Patera lies between the volcanoes of Elysium Mons
Posted by Universe Today
Zwischen den gewaltigen Marsvulkanen Olympus Mons und Elysium Mons befindet sich die merkwürdige geologische Struktur Orcus Patera. Dabei handelt es sich um eine ellipsenförmige Vertiefung mit einer Ausdehnung von 380 Kilometern Länge und 140 Kilometern Breite, die sich etwa in Nord-Süd-Richtung erstreckt. Der Rand dieser sog. Depression erhebt sich bis zu 1. 800 Meter über das
Posted by Solscape
... wasn't going to write an article about the Mars-Moon Hoax this year because I thought it was too passé, but I just looked at some stats and saw that our article on the topic from 2007, "Will Mars Look as Big as the Full Moon On August 27? Nope" has gotten over 50,000 hits
Posted by Universe Today
By now you may have heard about this interesting video showing how many asteroids we've discovered since 1980. It's pretty cool!I have no idea how accurate it is, but the numbers seem about right; I know there are several hundred thousand known asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. Note that a lot
Posted by Bad Astronomy
Ok.. August.. and it's August 27th. The 7 years old hoax is back. During the week my readers keep asking about Mars get bigger as the Full Moon. and other questions are about earth will have 2 sun and the sundog phenomenon in China as 4 suns in earth. Quite interesting to see how people
Posted by Avivah Yamani Riyadi
After weeks of foggy skies in San Francisco, the sky has started clearing, yielding spectacular sunsets and sky shows at Ocean Beach. I have been writing about (but not seeing much of) the amazing sight of the planets dancing across the evening sky. With the clear skies, the view was great, showcasing Venus and Mars very close together, with Saturn just to the lower right and the bright Zodiac start Spica (in Virgo) just to the upper left. This configuration traces a curve in the sky and if you
Posted by The Urban Astronomer
Despite the blessings of weighing less than a feather while treking through the final frontier, scientists have confirmed the side effects of micro gravity which can do more damage than weakening ones immune system. Fitts, Chair and Professor of Biological Sciences at Marquette, believes if astronauts were to travel to Mars today their ability to
Posted by Colony Worlds
Mars and Venus were at their closest last night, Comet 2P/Encke was also at its closest to Mercury. So of course it was cloudy and raining. In a breif lull in the rain I was able to get this shot of Venus and Mars together (with Saturn near the tops of the trees), But Mercury and the comet never appeared from behind cloud. Maybe tonight.
Posted by Astroblog
Correspondent Alan Garde took this lovely image of the line-up of Moon, Mercury, Saturn, Venus and Mars on Wednesday August 11 (click to embiggen). This was taken from Eleebana NSW, near Lake Macquarie. Alan liked the way the Moon was placed under the tree, and I agree with him. Alan says "The picture wasn´t exposed as well as it might have been. The instrument of phenomenal dynamic range that is our eye tricks us most of the time." Alan also says he clearly and regularly picked out V...
Posted by Astroblog
did anyone get out to see the perseid meteor shower or the planets last week? in case you were clouded out or just not lucky this time around, you can see a nice 2010 perseids photo gallery, from which i've chosen a couple to share. this is a shot by david harvey from mount lemmon in arizona, USA on august 12, 2010:this capture comes from amir abolfath, from the alamut castle in iran, august 14, 2010:today's APOD shows a lovely view of the current planetary alignment from a beach in portugal.
Posted by astropixie
On August 12 and 13 the crescent Moon was near Mercury and Venus respectively. I had cloud on both nights, although some readers were lucky on the 13th. Long time contributor had cloud and rain on the 13th, but was able to get off the shot you see to the left (click to embiggen, you will not regret it). He's captured the Earthshine on the Moon wonderfully, as well as the glowing triangle and Mercury.
Posted by Astroblog
While we often envision future Martian colonies powered by solar, steam or nuclear power, one aspect we often neglect is the human rated rovers that will be criss crossing the planet. Fortunately it looks like technology developed on Earth may aid rover ranging explorers on Mars. The idea is to use the sun to power
Posted by Colony Worlds
So no Mercury and the Moon for me. Have a picture from a couple of days ago instead. Click to embiggen. Mercury is just above the telegraph pole, Venus, Mars and Saturn are obvious and the bright streak is an artefact from the sodium light in the street. Did any you you folks see Mercury and the Moon?
Posted by Astroblog
tonight and the next few nights, the solar system treats us to the lovely sights of the perseid meteor shower. go outside and enjoy nature's display of meteors as the earth passes thru the interplanetary debris left by comet swift-tuttle. you can also see where other people on earth have seen perseid meteors fly across the sky, or report your own sightings, via twitter, to help with the online project meteor watch. even if you don't want to relax peacefully waiting for the meteor shower, you can
Posted by astropixie
Sheesh is it that time of year again? The Mars hoax is circulating once more. No, Mars will not be as big as the full Moon, there will be no double Moon in the sky. In fact, Mars is very, very far from opposition and is almost at its smallest (it won't be at opposition again until 2012). However, on August 27, in the early evening Mars, Venus and Spica from a nice triangle. For an overveiw of what the Mars hoax is and why it is so wrong, see the Return of the Zombie Mars Hoax that will not Die.
Posted by Astroblog
SpaceX founder, CEO and CTO Elon Musk sat down with the Spacevidcast team for about 20 minutes to talk about space and SpaceX. This is the 10 minute SpacePod edition which has a little under 1/2 the interview available. We chat about the Falcon X, the future of space and why he built SpaceX. ©
Posted by Universe Today
Although I've been having a hard time with cloud while trying to watch the massing of Venus, Mars and Saturn, correspondent Chris Wyatt from Bendigo, central Victoria has had much better luck. To fully enjoy his exquisite image of the three planets forming a triangle on 9 August, you will need to click on it to embiggen. At the bottom centre, just above the trees, is Mercury.
Posted by Astroblog
All these happen in one night: 13th August 2010 – Friday. And you do not want to miss them. This Friday, find a place with an unobstructed western horizon and have your dinner there while enjoying the sunset. As the Sun sets around 7:30 pm, the first two objects that will catch your attention will
Posted by My Dark Sky
Well, the massing of Venus, Mars and Saturn was completely rained out. Here's a shot from August the 7th, which was much frustrated by cloud (hence no shot with Mercury in it). Venus, Mars and Saturn still make a nice triangle though. Note Venus casting a glow on the clouds.
Posted by Astroblog
If you look west after sunset, you'll probably spot the fourth brightest object in the sky*: Venus. But as I looked west recently, I noticed two bright(ish) objects just above it. It didn't take me long to figure out that they were the planets Saturn and Mars. Both looked red due to their low altitude above
Posted by Bad Astronomy
Evening sky looking North-west as seen from Adelaide at 7:00 pm on Sunday August 8. Mercury is below Saturn, Venus and Mars. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen. The planetary dance continues. Saturn and Venus are at their closest on Sunday, August 8, forming a tiangle with Mars above. Below, Mercury is clearly visible in the late twilight/early evening sky. Keep watching, on Thursday the 12th the crescent Moon visit Mercy, then on the 13th
Posted by Astroblog
It's been a while since I've posted any news here, but work and family commitments have kept me extremely busy of late. However, I've still found some time to do a little observing. Not as much as I'd like to, but just enough to stave off the symptoms of cosmic withdrawal. All things considered, the past
Posted by Space Jockey
Known throughout the space community for their Skylon jets (which are still in development), Reaction Engines has proposed what appears to be a reasonable path to help humanity reach the red planet within our life time. Note: If the video does not work above, you can visit Reaction Engines to watch the clip in itsentirety.
Posted by Colony Worlds
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