Planetarium

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Monday, October 26th, 2009

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Jupiter & the Moon dance tonight

Be sure to look up and to the South tonight (October 26th) to see Jupiter and the Moon in close proximity. It should be directly south and viewable at about 7:30 PM. All it takes is a glance up.

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Planets:

 8:30 PM …    Jupiter will be in the South at about 30° It will e  unmistakably bright.

6:00 AM …    The crescent Moon will rise in the Southeast at about 30°

6:00 AM …    Mars will rise in the Southeast at about 65° above the horizon. Look for the reddish planet. At about 2:00 AM, Mars will be in the East.

6:00 AM …    Venus, the morning star, will be rising brightly in the East at about 10° above the horizon. It will be getting light out but it will still be very visible. Just above Venus, Saturn will almost merge with Venus. Following, low on the horizon, Mercury will disappear in the light of the sunrise.

 

Stars and Constellations:

8:00 PM …    The Big Dipper will be North Northwest (NNW) between 20°and 30°. If you follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper, you will come o a bright star, Arcturus.

8:00 PM…     Arcturus will be a bright star just above the horizon in the West.

8:00 PM …    Vega, a very bright star, will be visible most of the night high in the sky. Look up and to the West at about 65°.  

8:30 PM…     Cassiopeia (makes a big “W”) will be in the Northeast at about 50° above the horizon. The “W” will be on it’s side.

 Current Events:     

8:30 PM…   Find the Summer Triangle. Vega, Deneb and Altari. Look straight overhead you will see Deneb. Vega will be below Deneb to the south. Altair will be in the South Southwest at about 55°. Together they form a triangle.

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

The full Moon of Dec. 12th is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year.

It’s no illusion. Some full Moons are genuinely larger than others and this Friday’s is a whopper. Why? The Moon’s orbit is an ellipse with one side 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other. In the language of astronomy, the two extremes are called “apogee” (far away) and “perigee” (nearby). On Dec. 12th, the Moon becomes full a scant 4 hours after reaching perigee, making it 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons we’ve seen earlier in 2008. Above: In 2004, Greek amateur astronomer Anthony Ayiomamitis photographed an apogee Moon and a perigee Moon, and set the images side by side to show the difference. Okay, the Moon is 14% bigger, but can you actually tell the difference? It’s tricky. There are no rulers floating in the sky to measure lunar diameters. Hanging high overhead with no reference points to provide a sense of scale, one full Moon looks much like any other. The best time to look is when the Moon is near the horizon. That is when illusion mixes with reality to produce a truly stunning view. For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging Moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects. On Friday, why not let the “Moon illusion” amplify a full Moon that’s extra-big to begin with? The swollen orb rising in the east at sunset may seem so nearby, you can almost reach out and touch it.What you will see is the world around you. This is both the brightest and (in the northern hemisphere) the highest-riding full Moon of the year. If you go outside around midnight it will be close to overhead and act like a cosmic flood lamp making the landscape absolutely brilliant, especially if there’s snow. Full moons are always high during winter and, indeed, the solstice is right around the corner on Dec. 21st.  By: Dr. Tony Phillips, Science@NASA

 

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Well, The Phoenix spacecraft has landed!

You may remember, this spacecraft was to land on the mars polar cap and look for water ice (and possibly signs of life). Well, not only has NASA done it but the Phoenix Lander has sent back some spectacular first images. Also, pay particular attention to the photo of the decent taken from an orgiting satalite. 

These pictures can be seen at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/new-latest-images-collection_archive_1.html   

All is well so far, let’s hope the data that comes back from the
Phoenix is exciting as its landing.

Friday, March 28th, 2008

International Space Station Fly Overs!!

Syracuse, NY   Sunrise/set: 06:53 am / 07:27 pm
Predicted passes for: ISS        

             Local   Duration
   Date       Time    (min)   Approach     Max. elevation    Departure
————————————————————————
2008/03/28   09:11 pm   3   13° above W     34° above NNW   29° above N�
2008/03/29   07:58 pm   5   17° above SW    84° above SW    10° above ENE
2008/03/29   09:33 pm   2   10° above WNW   20° above NNW   20° above NNW
2008/03/30   08:20 pm   5   11° above W     35° above NNW   10° above NE
2008/03/30   09:56 pm   1   11° above NW    14° above NNW   14° above NNW
2008/03/31   08:43 pm   4   15° above NW    20° above NNW   10° above NE
2008/04/01   09:06 pm   2   14° above NNW   16° above N     12° above NNE