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Sun & Moon Today

JD 2460635  DoY 325  WoY 47
🔼06:22
🔽16:37

TWILIGHT
04:53~18:05
Ecl Long 239.1°
in Libra

Waning gibbous
Age 20.16 d
Phase 114.2°
Ecl Long 124.9°
in Cancer

SSE

Observable comet count is 1175

Current exoplanet count is 5787

Current longitude II of the GRS is  59°

 

Today Monitor

Planet Oppositions

Mars: January 16, 2025
Jupiter: December 7, 2024
Saturn: September 8, 2024
Uranus: November 17, 2024
Neptune: September 31, 2024

 

Greatest Elongation of Venus

Evening: January 10, 2025 at 47.2°E
Morning: June 1, 2025 at 45.9°W

 

Greatest Elongation of Mercury

Evening: December 4, 2023 at 21.3°E
Morning: January 12, 2024 at 23.5°W
Evening: March 24, 2024 at 18.7°E
Morning: May 9, 2024 at 26.4°W
Evening: July 22, 2024 at 26.9°E
Morning: September 5, 2024 at 18.1°W
Evening: November 16, 2024 at 22.5°E
Morning: December 25, 2024 at 22.0°W




Super Moons (full) 2024

Wednesday, September 18
Thursday, October 17

 

given for 00:00 UT

In Longitude (negative is western)

DateSizeAgeAnglePhase
09 Oct 202430.41'6.22-6.872°
10 Oct 202430.80'7.22-7.260°
11 Oct 202431.24'8.22-7.306°
12 Oct 202431.73'9.22-6.971°
21 Oct 202432.22'18.226.835°
22 Oct 202431.69'19.227.618°
23 Oct 202431.17'20.227.933°
24 Oct 202430.69'21.227.796°
25 Oct 202430.28'22.227.257°
08 Nov 202431.20'6.47-6.417°
19 Nov 202431.78'17.476.845°
20 Nov 202431.27'18.477.271°
21 Nov 202430.79'19.477.223°
22 Nov 202430.36'20.476.738°

 

In Latitude (negative is southern)

DateSizeAgeAnglePhase
09 Oct 202430.41'6.226.695°
10 Oct 202430.80'7.226.831°
11 Oct 202431.24'8.226.620°
21 Oct 202432.22'18.22-6.408°
22 Oct 202431.69'19.22-6.763°
23 Oct 202431.17'20.22-6.728°
05 Nov 202430.24'3.476.535°
06 Nov 202430.52'4.476.723°
07 Nov 202430.84'5.476.580°
18 Nov 202432.26'16.47-6.549°
19 Nov 202431.78'17.47-6.638°
03 Dec 202430.57'1.746.584°
04 Dec 202430.83'2.746.475°
16 Dec 202432.04'14.74-6.545°
30 Dec 202430.69'28.746.543°
31 Dec 202431.00'0.076.472°

Source: NASA/GSFC

 

Lunar Calendar 2024

Lunar Libration Calendar 2024 (PDF 11.2 MB)

View table online

Lunar Libration Calendar 2023 (PDF 3.3 MB)

 

Latest Deepsky Image

2024-11-03, Samyang 135mm, Uranus-C (IMX585), dual-band filter

 

Latest Planetary Image

2023-11-23, Celestron 8, Uranus-C, UV/IR-Cut filter

 

Latest Movie

2023-11-23, Celestron 8, Uranus-C, UV/IR-Cut filter, exposure 1h42m

 

Latest Wide Field Image

2024-08-26, Nikon D5500, Samyang 135mm with LPR, at f/2, 100 x 60s, ISO800

 

Latest Constellation Image

D5500, 35mm lens at f2.8, LPF, 70 x 60s, ISO800.

 

Latest Lunar Image

C8, ASI290MM, IR642 filter (July 19, 2024).

 

Latest Astro Poster

Celestron 8 x 0.63, D5500, no filters.

 

Lunar Impressions March 2024

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Click to enlarge or show full screen

 


 

Source: apod.nasa.gov

Latest STScI News Release

NASA's Hubble Sees Aftermath of Galaxy's Scrape with Milky Way

A whitish, whirlpool-like galaxy at middle of top edge, and a tadpole-shaped structure sweeps from left to right across lower half. A label pointing to outer, left of galaxy reads "Earth." Faint, purple haze labeled "Milky Way Halo" surrounds galaxy and stretches to graphic's edges. The tadpole-shaped object is the Large Magellanic Cloud, or LMC, with its own halo and streaming tail. Semi-circular, progressively darker layers of purple labeled "LMC Halo" surround the LMC, which appears roughly circular, with a central, light yellow bar. Cloud-like features sprinkled with white specks surround this bar. Trailing the LMC is a large, tail-like feature labeled "Stream." Three light blue lines point from the label "Earth" through the LMC's halo, and to three corresponding quasars, which are off screen. At the bottom, right corner is the label "Artist's Concept."

November 14, 2024

A whitish, whirlpool-like galaxy at middle of top edge, and a tadpole-shaped structure sweeps from left to right across lower half. A label pointing to outer, left of galaxy reads "Earth." Faint, purple haze labeled "Milky Way Halo" surrounds galaxy and stretches to graphic's edges. The tadpole-shaped object is the Large Magellanic Cloud, or LMC, with its own halo and streaming tail. Semi-circular, progressively darker layers of purple labeled "LMC Halo" surround the LMC, which appears roughly circular, with a central, light yellow bar. Cloud-like features sprinkled with white specks surround this bar. Trailing the LMC is a large, tail-like feature labeled "Stream." Three light blue lines point from the label "Earth" through the LMC's halo, and to three corresponding quasars, which are off screen. At the bottom, right corner is the label "Artist's Concept."

Source: stsci.edu/news

Tonight's Sky

Has been moved to YouTube

Latest JWST News

Webb and Hubble examine spooky galaxy pair

Galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 (Webb and Hubble image)

31 October 2024

Stare deeply at these galaxies. They appear as if blood is pumping through the top of a flesh-free face. The long, ghastly ‘stare’ of their searing eye-like cores shines out into the supreme cosmic darkness.


Source: esawebb.org

JWST Picture of the Month

Catching the edge of the Phantom Galaxy

https://cdn.esawebb.org/archives/images/thumb350x/potm2410a.jpg

29 October 2024
In August 2022, to mark the launch of the Picture of the Month series, ESA/Webb published a stunning image of the Phantom Galaxy (also known as M74 and NGC 628). Now, this series is revisiting the target to feature new data on this iconic spiral galaxy. M74 resides around 32 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Pisces, and lies almost face-on to Earth. This, coupled with its well-defined spiral arms, makes it a favourite target for astronomers studying the origin and structure of galactic spirals. This image features data from two of Webb’s instruments: MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument) and NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera). Observations in the infrared reveal the galaxy’s creeping tendrils of gas, dust and stars. In this image the dark red regions trace the filamentary warm dust permeating the galaxy. The red regions show the reprocessed light from complex molecules forming on dust grains, while orange and yellow …


Source: esawebb.org

NASA Image of the Day

STS-129 Crew Aboard the Space Station

The STS-129 crew members posed for a portrait following a joint news conference on Nov. 24, 2009, with the Expedition 21 crew members (out of frame) on the International Space Station. Pictured (clockwise) from bottom left are astronauts Charles O. Hobaugh, commander; Mike Foreman, Leland Melvin, Robert L. Satcher Jr. and Randy Bresnik, all mission specialists; along with Barry E. Wilmore, pilot; and Nicole Stott, mission specialist.

Click to enlarge or show full screen

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 21:56 GMT


Source: www.nasa.gov

 

 

No, we are not on Facebook but proudly on AstroBin with Mille Gracie to the author Salvatore Iovene:


GoTo Astropical on AstroBin

 

If anybody is interested in the night life of bats, here is a funny 1-minute MP4 video (24MB).

 

Lunar Imaging e-brochure (PDF 100.4 MB)

 

Sky Photography e-brochure (PDF 61.4 MB)

 

EAA e-brochure (PDF 89.4 MB) In work. Pre-release for feedbacks.

 

Planetary Imaging e-brochure (PDF 16.8 MB) In work. Pre-release for feedbacks.

 


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US, Oregon, Portland
US, Ohio, Dublin

Last visit from: US 
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Playstation: 8
Chrome OS: 4

 

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Deepsky Overview
My Humble Gallery
Lunar Imaging
FOV Simulator
Astro Cameras
Let's Astrophoto
Telescopes for AP

 

Total Exoplanet Count: 5787

Kepler/K2: 3326 planets
TESS: 570 planets
Latest exoplanet around:  
as of 2024-11-04

ConstellationCanes Venatici
Distance604.59 parsec
Magnitude12.86 vis.
Mass1.21 xSun
Radius1.32 xSun
Temperature6100°K
Known planet(s)1
View in Database | Star Chart | DSS IR Image 🔗

 


Acton Sky Portal Observatory 2
Anglo-Australian Telescope 35
Apache Point Observatory 1
Arecibo Observatory 3
Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) 1
Bohyunsan Optical Astronomical Observatory 26
Calar Alto Observatory 20
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 5
CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS) 3
CoRoT 35
European Southern Observatory 3
European Space Agency (ESA) Gaia Satellite 11
Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory 6
Gemini Observatory 10
Haleakala Observatory 2
HATNet 67
HATSouth 73
Haute-Provence Observatory 65
Hubble Space Telescope 6
Infrared Survey Facility 1
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) 1
K2 548
KELT 10
KELT-North 7
KELT-South 4
Kepler 2778
Kitt Peak National Observatory 1
KMTNet 96
KOINet 1
La Silla Observatory 285
Large Binocular Telescope Observatory 3
Las Campanas Observatory 29
Leoncito Astronomical Complex 1
Lick Observatory 36
Lowell Observatory 3
Mauna Kea Observatory 2
McDonald Observatory 31
MEarth Project 2
MOA 31
Multiple Facilities 18
Multiple Observatories 313
NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) 1
Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) 21
OGLE 106
Okayama Astrophysical Observatory 36
Palomar Observatory 2
Paranal Observatory 30
Parkes Observatory 2
Qatar 10
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory 35
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SAR 1
SPECULOOS Southern Observatory 2
Spitzer Space Telescope 4
Subaru Telescope 11
SuperWASP 113
SuperWASP-North 5
SuperWASP-South 32
Teide Observatory 1
Thueringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg 8
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) 570
TrES 5
United Kingdom Infrared Telescope 2
University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory 1
Very Long Baseline Array 1
W. M. Keck Observatory 189
WASP-South 11
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Sat 1
Winer Observatory 1
Xinglong Station 2
XO 6
Yunnan Astronomical Observatory 3


 

⎘

Next NEO Approach

2012 KO11 on 2024-Nov-20 02:27 UTC at 6.1363 LD

 

⎘

Next Meteor Shower

Alpha Monocerotids
15 Nov - 25 Nov, Peak: 11/21
Radiant: Star Chart, Rating: bright

 

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Next ISS Passes

NOTE: You need to log in for correct data.

 

Random Objects

 

Merak (48 Bet UMa) in UMa [HIP 53910]

Distance: 79 light-years, Magnitude: 2.34

Designated BETA in the constellation Ursa Major, Merak is one of the stars forming the Big Dipper. A line connecting Merak with Dubhe (ALPHA) extends to the Northern Pole Star.

Star Chart | DSS IR Image 🔗

 

GJ 273 (Luyten's Star) in Canis Minor

Distance: 12 light-years, Magnitude: 9.8

Named after Dutch-American astronomer Willem Jacob Luyten, who measured its proper motion, red-orange hued Luyten's Star is a red dwarf, a third the size and a quarter the mass of the Sun. Luyten's star is a slow rotater but moves across the sky at a rate of 3.74 arc seconds per year. It came as close as 11.8 light-years some 13,000 years ago. Its curent distance to its next neighbor Procyon is 1.2 light-years.

Star Chart | DSS IR Image 🔗

 

M70 (Globular Cluster) in Sagittarius

Magnitude: 7.9

Running away from us at a speed of 200 km/s, this 68 light-year wide cluster of stars is only slightly brighter than its neighboring globular cluster ? M69. Even though it is being ripped apart by tidal forces from being so near to the center of our galaxy, M70 still has a super dense core region, perhaps the product of a core collapse at one point in its evolution.

Star Chart | DSS IR Image 🔗

 

Leo Minor (northern), area rank: 64

A small constellation between Ursa Major and Leo. 4 and 5-magnitude stars are lined up side by side, but can barely be realized. According to 17th century's astronomer Johannes Hevelius, Leo Minor was introduced to fill up space between the constellations.

Star Chart

 

246P/NEAT

246P/NEAT is a periodic comet discovered on 2004 March 28 by Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) using the 1.2-meter reflector at Haleakala. It was given the permanent number 246P on 2011 January 14. It is a Quasi-Hilda comet. Due to perturbations by Jupiter, the 2005, 2013 and 2021 perihelion passages will be closer to the Sun. The comet is observable all through its orbit. [Wikipedia]

 

 

Hermione (Asteroid)

Semi-major: 3.45080 AU, Size: 268 km

Discovered by J. C. Watson on May 12, 1872 from Ann Arbor, Hermione orbits in the Cybele group in the far outer asteroid belt. As an asteroid of the dark C spectral type, it is probably composed of carbonaceous materials. A 13 km wide satellite of Hermione was discovered in 2002 with the Keck II telescope. Aurora rotates in 5.551 hours. The asteroid has a mean mass of 5.38x1018kg and a density of 1.8g/cm³.

 

 

Cordelia (moon of Uranus)

Discovered in 1986 in Voyager 2 images, Cordelia is Uranus' innermost moon, a shepherd moon whose gravity keeps the particles that constitute Uranus' Epsilon ring from dispersing. Its surface probably consists of the dark, unprocessed, carbon-rich material.

 

 

HD 147018 b (in Triangulum Australe)

Mass: 2.12 xJup
SMA: 0.2388 AU
Period: 44.236 days
Distance: 40.4256 parsec
Category: Hot Jovian
ESI: 0.135585

Star Chart | DSS IR Image 🔗

 

Android Astronomy Apps

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Dark Site in Morocco

Some say that the seeing is better only in space.

Click on the banner to visit the new website of SaharaSky, the first and currently only private observatory with Casbah-style *** hotel in North Africa.

 

The owner, Fritz, is a German with a life-long passion for astronomy. Then, as he felt in deep love with Morocco and its wonderful people, he built a self-contained hotel at the feet of the Sahara about 30 kilometers to the southeast of the town of Zagora entirely in the traditional southern Moroccan Casbah-style and equipped it, besides comfortable rooms, a restaurant, spa and sauna, with a rich portfolio of optical instruments and accessories for amateur astronomers.

Fritz chose the location extremely well, a truly dark site in absence of city and street lights, blessed with an average of 300 clear dry nights annually. The observatory atop the hotel building offers a 360 degrees panoramic view on 500 square meters.

Most guests are professional and amateur astronomers, but also people of all ages with affection for the fascination of the stars and the desert. From the hotel's wide roof terrace, everybody can enjoy the starry sky dominated by the arch of the Milky Way with bare eyes or with rental telescopes and cameras.

The heart and soul of SaharaSky's observatory is Patrick from Belgium, not only a senior professional astronomer, but also a talented animator and entertainer under the Saharan stars.

A stay at SaharaSky is not limited to the night sky. SaharaSky provides equipment for solar observation, but Fritz also organises desert excursions for several days, overnight or day-return treks in a 4x4 or on dromedar backs, plus guided tours to historically invaluable local sites, such as the Petroglyphs of Ait Ouazzik.

Owner and staff as a team speak Arabic, local Berber, English, French, German, Spanish and Dutch.

Scotty, lock on to the coordinates of SaharaSky and beam us over!


SaharaSky owns telescopes with apertures from 40 to 400mm, such as Takahashi APOs, each of which can be saddled on high precision GM2000 mounts featuring GPS, GoTo and accurate guiding for both, visual observation and photography.

 

 

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