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
Saturn is best known for its rings. This huge and beautiful ring system is easy to spot in even the smallest backyard telescope, so you can imagine they were a surprise when Galileo first noticed them. But astronomers have gone on to find rings around the other gas giant worlds in the Solar System
Posted by Universe Today
Check. This. Out. What an amazing shot from Cassini!Holy Haleakala! How gorgeous is that?This picture really threw me for a minute. I couldn't figure it out! Obviously, you're seeing the night side of Saturn; the planet itself is an almost entirely dark disk. The bright curve you see at the edge is sunlight scattered by
Posted by Bad Astronomy
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
Saturn's moons as you've never seen them before! By day, Dr. Paul Schenk works at the Lunar and Planetary Institute mapping the topography and geology of the moons of Saturn and Jupiter, as well as the icy bodies of the outer solar system. But because "its just plain cool," he has created some flyover videos
Posted by Universe Today
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
Oh. My. Another lovely, stunning Cassini image: A thin crescent Enceladus rising over the sunlit cloud tops of Saturn:What a sight! As the spacecraft rounded into the dark side of Saturn, it turned back toward the planet (and the far more distant Sun). The top of Saturn's atmosphere is still lit as seen from Cassini's
Posted by Bad Astronomy
new pics from Saturn sys. –Ben Cassini Images from this Weekend's Enceladus, Tethys and Dione Flybys! August 14, 2010 Dear Friends and Colleagues, Just down on the ground today … images from Cassini's close flybys of Tethys, Dione and Enceladus this weekend. Go to … http://www. ciclops. org/view_event/140/Enceladus_Tethys_and_Dione_Rev_136_Raw_Preview … and see some gorgeous raw images of these
Posted by Slacker Astronomy
Oh, wow! This is one of the best images yet from the Cassini spacecraft of the "tiger stripes" in the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Over the weekend, Cassini flew by Enceladus, and has sent back some incredible new images, such as the one above. The tiger stripes are actually giant fissures that
Posted by Universe Today
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
This afternoon I set myself a challenge – take a paper published on the astronomy arXiv today and blog about it by the end of the day. Luckily for me an intriguing non-detection in our own Solar System popped up. Back in 2008 it was widely reported that the Cassini spacecraft had detected a ring
Posted by we are all in the gutter
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
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
There are times I wish I had more than 610 pixels of width to this blog, because then I could display this eerie and wonderful picture in its full glory:[Click to embiggen]The full size image isn't much bigger, but gives you a better idea of the loneliness and blackness of space. Taken by Cassini, it
Posted by Bad Astronomy
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
About | List of blogs | Leave a comment | Last updated: Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:10 UTC