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Monthly Archives: July 2011
Got dark skies? See a comet this week!
Summer’s best and brightest nighttime asterism sails high over our heads as August opens. The Summer Triangle and the magnificent stretch of Milky Way it contains command the southeastern sky at nightfall. Altair in the constellation Aquila the Eagle forms … Continue reading
Tagged Astro Bob, Comet Garradd, Elenin, Summer Triangle, sunspots
2 Comments
Now is best time to see asteroid Vesta
I am so sleepy right now. Can you blame me? My friends Jon, Greg and I stayed up until the first hint of dawn this morning blissfully hopping from one deep sky object to the next with our telescopes. The … Continue reading
Tagged asteroid, Astro Bob, Capricornus, Jupiter, Vesta
3 Comments
Spectacular sunspots plus meet Earth’s newest friend, asteroid 2010 TK7
After a brief lull, solar activity is back in full swing. The largest sunspot groups look like showy parade floats wheeling across the sun’s northern hemisphere. The three largest spots are approximately the size of the planet Jupiter. Using a … Continue reading
Lowell’s Mars proves we might just see what we wish for
Sometimes you just can’t trust your eyes. That’s why I’m always careful to examine objects, especially faint ones, multiple times through the telescope until my confidence level rises to the certainty of “Yes, I see it!” That happened two nights … Continue reading
Tagged Astro Bob, Lowell, Mars, Schiaparelli, supernova
2 Comments
Tiny Mars draws closer to Earth
The little planet Mars is slowly climbing the morning sky in the constellation Taurus the Bull. It’s still far from Earth – nearly 200 million miles away or better than twice our planet’s distance from the sun – and on … Continue reading
Tagged Astro Bob, Mars, moon, Taurus
2 Comments
Uptick in meteors as summer ripens
Like the raspberries in the woods, summer is ripening. Stars that were once prominent in June are on their way westward. And if you’re out at dawn, be prepared for a shock - the early winter constellations of Taurus and … Continue reading
Tagged Astro Bob, Big Dipper, Delta Aquarids, meteor
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Space station returns to view. Little Mars robot strides toward Endeavour
No more shuttles, that’s for sure, but you can still watch the International Space Station (ISS) cruise 245 miles high over your neighborhood. A new round of bright dawn passes begins this weekend and continues for the next several weeks. … Continue reading
Tagged Astro Bob, Curiosity, Gale crater, ISS, Mars, Opportunity, space station
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Comet Elenin brightening a hopeful sign
Vesta’s looks positively groovy in this most recent photo taken by the orbiting Dawn spacecraft from 6,500 miles away. Dawn was traveling toward the nightside of the asteroid when the picture was taken, the reason why so much of the … Continue reading
Tagged Astro Bob, Comet Elenin, Vesta
82 Comments
There’s a moon looking over your shoulder
This morning the last quarter moon peered down over my house from high up in the southwestern sky. It was very plain to see. Have you noticed the moon lately in the daytime? For northern hemisphere observers, it’s out nearly … Continue reading
Atlantis touches down. How to see spectacular Iridium satellite flares
The space shuttle Atlantis landed at 4:57 a.m. CDT today at Kennedy Space Center in Florida after 200 orbits around Earth and a journey of 5,284,862 miles. Now that it’s back home, Atlantis won’t be going far. It’s slated to … Continue reading
Tagged Astro Bob, Atlantis, Iridium, shuttle, space station
8 Comments
