Looks Like it Was an Impact!

Recently, I informed you about a "possible" Jupiter impact, similar to the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact of 1994. Sure enough, NASA has captured this infrared image (at right) of the impact zone, showing that it most likely is an impact!

This impact was discovered by Anthony Wesley of Australia, an amateur astronomer, using a 14.5" f/5 Newtonian reflector. Reports are flooding in from amateur and professional astronomers from around the world, so there's no shortage of confirmation of the event!

Want to See It?

The dark spot left by the impactor can be seen at a latitude of about 60 degrees South in Jupiter's south polar region. With decent seeing, most backyard telescopes should be able to see the dark spot. To see the dark spot, visit the Lackawanna Astronomical Society's page showing when to view the dark spot! I wish I could observe this event, but we're under a low pressure system right now and won't be cloud free until it's gone! So if you've got any observations, post a comment!

Clear skies!

July 22 Solar Eclipse Pictures

Here, I have assembled a collection of images of the July 22nd, 2009 total solar eclipse. These pictures are from members of Flickr. To view the Flickr page of the respective pictures, just click on them. I also have a couple of cool videos here.


A view of totality. As you can see in the next pictures, even thin cloud cover didn't stop people from snapping pics!







Clear skies!

July 22nd 2009 Solar Eclipse Video

Video of the solar eclipse on July 22^nd, 2009 from India, Southeast Asia, and China. With an incredibly long totality of 6 minutes and 39 seconds, this solar eclipse was the longest solar eclipse until 2132! Totality occured at 2:35 UTC, July 22^nd, 2009. Also check out these pictures of the eclipse.

Click here for more information.

I'll post more pictures and video as I find them.

Clear skies!

Possible Jupiter Impact?

A new black spot has appeared on the face of Jupiter on July 19th, 2009! First discovered by Anthony Wesley (an amateur astronomer), this black spot could possibly be a new Jupiter impact, akin to the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts of 1994. According to Wesley,

"...My next thought was that it must be either a dark moon (like Callisto) or a moon shadow, but it was in the wrong place and the wrong size. Also I'd noticed it was moving too slow to be a moon or shadow. As far as I could see it was rotating in sync with a nearby white oval storm that I was very familiar with - this could only mean that the back feature was at the cloud level and not a projected shadow from a moon. I started to get excited..."

This theory, however, is still just that, a theory, as the observations have not yet been confirmed. The image below was captured by Wesley using a 14.5" f/5 Newtonian telescope. Note the black spot at the "top" of Jupiter, which is actually the South Polar Region.


Image captured by Anthony Wesley (Click for more details).

On a side note, I've been noticing that Twitter is far more useful for quick spread of news than the big news networks. Most of the recent news (including this story), I've received from Twitter hours or days before the major news networks... Thanks @Discovery_Space!

UPDATE

Looks like NASA has infrared observations on this event, and they're calling it an impact. More details here.

Clear skies!

Dobsonian Altitude Brake Mod

It's been a while since I posted a telescope mod article, so I figure'd I'd share this mod, submitted by a reader, Clay Cooper. Basically, he replaced the bolt that holds the springs with a 1/4-20 bolt with a knob and a washer. A simple and elegant solution to the pesky springs, this mod also allows adjustment of the altitude tension "on the fly". Check out the pics below to see!







If you've got any cool mods of your own, send 'em in to sean@visualastronomy.com!

Clear skies!

Apollo Program 40th Anniversary

The 40^th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings is approaching, and many groups are having celebrations and commemorations. Apollo 11 landed on July 20, 1969, so this July 20^th will mark the 40^th anniversary of the first boots on the Moon. Looking forward, we are going back to the moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is already preparing our path back to the moon, with the end goal this time of a permanent Lunar settlement. A Lunar base camp would allow us to study the Moon and stars in greater detail than ever before, and may be used as a "rest stop" on the way to Mars. Below, you will find a list of links and resources on the 40^th anniversary of the Apollo landings.

• NASA's 40th Anniversary Page


• List of 40th Anniversary Events


• Apollo 11 Page on Wikipedia


• Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter


• Discovery Channel and other news and cable channels have specials throughout the anniversary period


• Apollo Plus 40 on Twitter

If you've got any events that you would like added to the list, just leave a comment!

Clear skies!

Help Solve an Astronomical Mystery!

Have you ever wanted to make a contribution to real science? Well, now you can, with the Citizen Sky Project!

The Citizen Sky project is an attempt to solve a 175 year-old mystery. Every 27.1 years, the star Epsilon Aurigae undergoes an eclipse. Astronomers have been studying this star for over 175 years, yet still don't fully understand the nature of its eclipsing object. Citizen Sky has more information on Epsilon Aurigae here. The problem is that the star is so bright that it cannot be observed with most large professional telescopes. So, the task has been assigned to amateur astronomers everywhere to help with observation during Epsilon Aurigae's next eclipse in August 2009!

Joining Citizen Sky is open to anyone, regardless of your previous experience in astronomy. Heck, you don't even need a telescope to observe Epsilon Aurigae!! According to citizensky.org:

"Citizen Sky welcomes everyone to be a citizen scientist. We will guide you through the process of how to observe epsilon Aurigae, how to send us your observations, and then how to see your results, analyze them, and even publish them in a scientific journal!! No previous experience is required. We hope that this project will involve thousands of people all over the world in real, active scientific research."

-- citizensky.org

So join Citizen Sky and make a difference in astronomy! I've already joined, and will be making observations whenever possible!

Clear skies!

Constellation Showcase: Hercules

Welcome to this month's Constellation Showcase! This monthly segment details a currently viewable constellation, typically somewhere along the ecliptic or high in the Northern sky. This month we're going on a tour of Hercules, the Roman Hero!

In the star chart to the right, you can see the constellation Hercules. Hercules isn't a very bright constellation, but it contains a few interesting stars and clusters. To find Hercules, I usually find it easiest to first locate the central square segment. The constellation Cygnus can be useful in finding Hercules, as it is a very easy constellation to find (it is shaped like a cross) and is near to Hercules.

Hercules is a Roman adaptation of the Greek demigod Heracles. Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmena, a mortal. This makes Heracles half-god, half-mortal. There are many legends regarding Hercules, one of the most famous being the Twelve Labors of Hercules.

Nebulae

The only notable nebula in Hercules is Abell 39. This planetary nebula is very close to spherical in shape, and can make an interesting target in medium to large telescopes. Planetary nebulae form at the end of their central star's life. Stellar winds blow gas outward into space, forming a nebula. You can see this cool planetary nebula in the image to the left (WIYN/NOAO/NSF). The Abell 39 nebula is about 2.5 light-years across. The outer shell of the nebula is only about 0.34 light-years thick. In the center of the sphere, you can see a star. This is the central star, and the source of the gas that makes up the planetary nebula. It is approximated that this nebula started to form a little over 22,000 years ago, and has been expanding at a rate of about 35 km/s.

Clusters

Hercules is home to one of the most famous globular clusters, M13. This beautiful globular cluster, also known as the Great Cluster in Hercules, contains a few hundred thousand stars packed into a spherical cluster only 145 light-years across! Even in small telescopes, this cluster is astonishing. In larger telescopes, M13 takes on a whole new look. The larger the telescope, the smaller objects it can resolve, so medium to large telescopes really start to show great detail in M13. Under dark skies, it is sometimes even visible to the naked eye! To the right, you can see the Hubble image of M13. The position of M13 is marked on the constellation map at the top right of this article, too.

Hercules is also the home of M92, another globular cluster. Although it isn't as impressive as M13, it is still an entertaining target. M92 is also marked on the map at top right.

I hope you enjoyed this month's installment of the Constellation Showcase, and that you will join us next month, when we will showcase another constellation!

To receive more articles like this, subscribe via RSS Feed or e-mail!

Clear skies!

Previous Constellation Showcase - Orion

Total Solar Eclipse, July 22, 2009

On July 22nd, 2009, viewers in India and Southeast Asia will be treated to a total solar eclipse. With an incredibly long totality of 6 minutes and 39 seconds, this solar eclipse will be the longest solar eclipse until 2132! Totality occurs at 2:35 UTC. This eclipse will be visible starting in India, moving through Nepal, Bangladesh, China, and the southern end of Japan, finally ending in the South Pacific. Of course, the best place to see the eclipse would be at maximum totality, seen best from Iwo Jima. If you can't get there, though, any viewing area in the maps below will give an excellent show! To see a detailed map of the total eclipse's path, click any of the maps below.




The eclipse's path through India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan.


The eclipse's path through China.


The eclipse's path through southern Japan.

For more detailed maps, see NASA's page on the eclipse.

SAFETY FIRST!

Although you will want to look at this eclipse, DO NOT LOOK AT A SOLAR ECLIPSE without proper safety equipment. Doing so can cause permanent and irreversible eye damage and possibly blindness.

In order to safely view this eclipse use a pinhole eclipse viewer. Here's how to make one for cheap.

Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC

UPDATE

The eclipse has now occured, and video is available. I've posted some pictures, and a couple of vids.

Clear skies!

Astronomy Calendar, July 2009

The following is a list of celestial events occurring during July of 2009.

• July 4 - The Moon will be 0.5 degrees from the star Antares. An occultation will be visible from Japan and Hawaii at 10:00 UTC.


• July 10 - Mars is 5 degrees south of M45. Jupiter is 4 degrees south of the Moon, and Neptune is 3 degrees south of the Moon.


• July 13 - Jupiter is 0.6 degrees south of Neptune.


• July 18 - The Moon is 0.5 degrees north of M45. Mars is 5 degrees south of the Moon.


• July 20 - The Moon is 1.6 degrees north of M35.


• July 22 - A total solar eclipse will be visible from India, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific. Click here for more details.
  


• July 29 - Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks. The Delta Aquarids are typically considered minor shower, with hourly rates near the 20 meteor per hour range. The Delta Aquarids tend to produce bright yellow, slow-moving meteors.
  

Clear skies!