Comet in the Clouds

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Bob Riddle

   This morning, July 13^th, the sky was generally overcast with thin status type clouds in most directions, including the northeast where the comet was just starting to appear over the trees marking my local horizon. Fortunately the clouds were still transparent enough for the comet to be just barely visible to the naked-eye, but very visible with time exposure pictures.
   I was hoping to position my camera so that the Baseball player would look as if he were swinging at the comet but the clouds started to thicken in that direction as I moved off the road and into some tall grasses.
   The other planets that were very visible yesterday morning were hidden or blurred by the clouds. Jupiter shined through the clouds but not Saturn or Mars. The Moon light was reflecting off clouds brightening the sky in that direction. And Venus and Aldebaran were somewhat visible but it took a time exposure picture to catch the light from the rest of the stars making the v-shaped part of the Hyades.

: Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

: Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

: Venus and the Hyades

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

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Comet NEOWISE or NEOWOW!!

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Bob Riddle

Could it get much better than this? Five visible planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Earth); Moon-Mars conjunction; Venus-Aldebaran conjunction; 2 outer planets and a Dwarf Planet not naked-eye visible, and Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE). Icing on the ‘cake’ would have been to have the ISS orbit through the sky this morning.

: Play Ball!

: Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

: Venus and Aldebaran

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

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July Last Quarter Moon at Apogee

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Bob Riddle

Our Moon reaches apogee, (furthest from Earth), for this orbit, on Sunday July 12^th. At that time the last quarter Moon will be at a distance of 31.68 Earth diameters, 251,158 miles (404,200 km) from the Earth.
On the date of the apogee Moon the Moon will be about 4-5^o to the east (left) from the planet Mars.

Does our Moon actually go around the Earth as this graphic shows? From our perspective on the Earth the Moon appears to circle around the Earth. However, in reality, the Moon orbits the Sun together with the Earth^*
^*Click here to read my 2006 Scope on the Sky column “The Real Shape of the Moon’s Orbit”. (PDF)

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to go to bobs-spaces.

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Taurus Eyes Venus

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Bob Riddle

Saturday morning July 11^th the inner planet Venus will be about 1^o from the reddish star Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull. Aldebaran marks the ‘angry eye’ of the bull and is at one end of a v-shaped group of stars, the Hyades, that make up the face of Taurus.

Venus has just spent the past several days traversing the Hyades, an open star cluster composed of hundreds of stars. The Hyades, at a estimated distance of 150 light years, is the closest open star cluster in our galaxy to the Earth.
With binoculars the view of Venus, the Hyades, and Aldebaran is striking with Venus brightly shining at about a -4.5 apparent magnitude and Aldebaran with a 0.9 apparent magnitude.

Also on this day the 20-day old waning gibbous Moon will be about 4-5^o from the planet Mars.

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

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Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) and Venus-Hyades Transit – Follow up

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Bob Riddle

General location of the comet

Here are pictures of the inner planet Venus in transit across the Hyades open star cluster, and of Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) as both appeared over the northeastern to eastern horizon.

   Pictures were taken around 5:00 am CDT with a Canon Rebel EOS T7i DSLR using a variety of settings for exposure, shutter speed and so on. Location was near a baseball field at Legacy Park in Lee’s Summit, MO.

: July 7

: July 7

: July 8

: July 8

: July 8

Caution: Objects viewed with an optical aid are further than they appear.

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.

Venus, the Bull, and a Comet (yes!)

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Bob Riddle

   The next several days offer some exciting opportunities for viewing: a few of the visible planets; the waning phases of our Moon and a few conjunctions with stars and planets; Venus crossing the stars of the Hyades open star cluster; and Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE).
   Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is one of the many comets discovered by the NASA NEOWISE mission.
   NEOWISE is a space-based telescope used to find and track ‘Near Earth Objects’, comets and asteroids, that may pose a threat to our planet.
   Click on this link to go to the SkyLive web site for viewing information about Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE).

: July7 – 5:30 am CDT

: July 7 – 5:30 am CDT – 7×50 Binoculars

: July 8 – 5:30 am CDT

: July 8 – 5:30 am CDT – 7×50 Binoculars

: July 9 – 5:30 am CDT

: July 9 – 5:30 am CDT – 7×50 Binoculars

: July 10 – 5:30 am CDT

: July 10 – 5:30 am CDT – 7×50 Binoculars

: July 12 – 5:30 am CDT

: July 12 – 5:30 am CT – 7×50 Binoculars

: July 13 – 5:30 am CDT

: July 13 – 5:30 am CDT – 7×50 Binoculars

: July 14 – 5:30 am CDT

: July 14 – 5:30 am CDT – 7x 50 Binoculars

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.

A Lunar Eclipse and 2 Planet Conjunction

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Bob Riddle

Our Moon reaches full phase on July 5^th and will be rising around sunset local time. Two of the giant outer planets, Jupiter and Saturn will be passed by the Moon over a two day period. On the 5^th the full Moon will be about 6-7^o to the west from Jupiter. The next day, July 6^th, the waning gibbous Moon will have passed the two planets and the Moon will about 1-2^o from Saturn. Both days should prove to be ‘binocular-worthy’ with the morning of the 6th having the Moon the closest to the planets.
There will also be a partial penumbral lunar eclipse however this type of eclipse has the Moon passing through the faint outer shadow cast by the Earth. Even a total penumbral lunar eclipse is barely noticeable so as a partial do not expect to see much change in the Moon’s brightness.

: July 5 – 5:30 am CDT

: July 6 – 5:30 am CDT

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.

Mercury at Inferior Conjunction

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Bob Riddle

Wednesday July 1^st the innermost planet Mercury reaches inferior conjunction. At inferior conjunction Mercury will move between the Earth and the Sun – much like the position of the Moon at new phase. The graphic to the right shows the planet positions relative to the Earth and Sun for both inner planets and outer planets.

At this inferior conjunction Mercury will not be directly in line with the Earth and the Sun – on the ecliptic. Mercury has an orbital inclination of 7^o with respect to the ecliptic. So like our Moon, Mercury during each complete orbit, will cross the plane of the ecliptic moving north (ascending node) and also moving south (descending node). For this inferior conjunction Mercury will be south of the ecliptic, by about 5.47^o.

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.

Thin Moon on the Move

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Bob Riddle

   Sunday June 21^st, on the other side of the Earth from the U.S.A., the new Moon will be passing between the Earth and the Sun giving that side of the world an annular solar eclipse.
   About 1/2-day later the just past new Moon, an 0.80-day young thin waxing crescent Moon may be seen just above the western horizon at sunset local time. If you see the Moon look closely for a star-like object just to the left from the Moon. This is the inner planet Mercury.
   If you miss the Moon and Mercury on Sunday evening wait until Monday evening June 22^nd to see the still thin 1.85-days old waxing crescent Moon near one of the Gemini ‘Twin’ stars, Pollux.
   Not had enough? On Tuesday June 23^rd the 2.80-days young waxing crescent Moon will be near M44, the Beehive Cluster.
   Any of these conjunctions will look great in binoculars.

: June 21 – 9 pm CDT

: June 21 – 9 pm CDT

: June 22 – 9 pm CDT

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.

Crescent Moon – Venus Close Conjunction

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Bob Riddle

   Friday morning June 19^th about an hour before sunrise look toward the eastern horizon for the 27.5-day old waning crescent Moon and the inner planet Venus. The two will be separated by about 1-2^o and both will easily fit within the field of view of binoculars making for a striking view.
   You will be looking at a Moon that is about 24-hours from new Moon phase, and shines with an apparent magnitude of -8.90 compared with Venus shining with a -4.29 apparent magnitude.
   Off to the west over the eastern-southern horizon are the outer planets, Uranus, Neptune, Mars, and Dwarf Planet Ceres. Further to the west are the planets Jupiter and Saturn.

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.

Bob's Spaces

Earth and Space Sciences Education

Tag Archives: planets

Comet in the Clouds

Comet NEOWISE or NEOWOW!!

July Last Quarter Moon at Apogee

Taurus Eyes Venus

Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) and Venus-Hyades Transit – Follow up

Venus, the Bull, and a Comet (yes!)

A Lunar Eclipse and 2 Planet Conjunction

Mercury at Inferior Conjunction

Thin Moon on the Move

Crescent Moon – Venus Close Conjunction

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