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Sun & Moon Today

JD 2460728  DoY 52  WoY 08
🔼06:21
🔽17:33

TWILIGHT
04:57~18:57
Ecl Long 333.4°
in Aquarius

Last quarter
Age 23.09 d
Phase 78.5°
Ecl Long 254.9°
in Ophiuchus

SSE

Observable comet count is 1177

Current exoplanet count is 5834

Current longitude II of the GRS is  68°



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Impact Probablity of 2024 YR4:  0.16%

Asteroid Size ProbabilityDate
2024 YR440—90 m0.16%22 December 2032

Reference ESA

Please do not let this worry you. The asteroid has been detected just recently meaning that the orbital elements are not yet accurately determined, while they can alter any time due to gravitational pulls.


The risk corridor of 2024 YR4's possible impact locations runs from the Pacific Ocean to Northern South America, the Atlantic Ocean, central Africa, a corner of the Arabian peninsula, and then to northern India (Source Wikipedia).

 

 

Today Monitor

 


Planet Oppositions

Mars: January 16, 2025
Jupiter: January 10, 2026
Saturn: September 21, 2025
Uranus: November 21, 2025
Neptune: September 23, 2025

 

Greatest Elongation of Venus

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

 

Greatest Elongation of Mercury

Morning: December 25, 2024 at 22.0°W
Evening: March 8, 2025 at 18.2°E
Morning: April 21, 2025 at 27.4°W
Evening: July 4, 2025 at 25.9°E
Morning: August 19, 2025 at 18.6°W
Evening: October 29, 2025 at 23.9°E
Morning: December 7, 2025 at 20.7°W
Evening: Febrary 19, 2026 at 18.1°E



Comets to look out for:



Super Moons (full) 2025

Wednesday, 5 November
Friday, 5 December

 

given for 00:00 UT

In Longitude (negative is western)

DateSizeAgeAnglePhase
23 Feb 202530.61'24.48-6.502°
24 Feb 202531.06'25.48-6.683°
25 Feb 202531.54'26.48-6.463°
22 Mar 202530.16'21.97-6.602°
23 Mar 202530.54'22.97-7.220°
24 Mar 202531.00'23.97-7.497°
25 Mar 202531.50'24.97-7.380°
26 Mar 202532.03'25.97-6.841°
04 Apr 202531.86'5.546.674°
05 Apr 202531.40'6.547.159°
06 Apr 202530.97'7.547.233°
07 Apr 202530.58'8.546.935°
19 Apr 202530.14'20.54-6.609°
20 Apr 202530.49'21.54-7.247°
21 Apr 202530.91'22.54-7.602°
22 Apr 202531.38'23.54-7.618°
23 Apr 202531.89'24.54-7.248°
24 Apr 202532.39'25.54-6.459°
02 May 202532.05'4.196.908°
03 May 202531.53'5.197.524°
04 May 202531.04'6.197.652°
05 May 202530.59'7.197.335°
06 May 202530.21'8.196.642°
18 May 202530.56'20.19-6.624°
19 May 202530.92'21.19-6.950°
20 May 202531.32'22.19-7.010°
21 May 202531.75'23.19-6.758°
30 May 202532.13'2.876.436°
31 May 202531.63'3.877.137°
01 Jun 202531.12'4.877.336°
02 Jun 202530.65'5.877.064°
29 Jun 202531.11'3.566.528°
02 Oct 202530.80'10.17-6.602°
03 Oct 202531.28'11.17-6.712°
04 Oct 202531.79'12.17-6.413°
13 Oct 202532.01'21.176.426°
14 Oct 202531.60'22.177.017°
15 Oct 202531.20'23.177.219°
16 Oct 202530.83'24.177.068°
17 Oct 202530.51'25.176.617°
29 Oct 202530.28'7.48-6.622°
30 Oct 202530.70'8.48-7.213°
31 Oct 202531.18'9.48-7.461°
01 Nov 202531.71'10.48-7.298°
02 Nov 202532.24'11.48-6.672°
10 Nov 202532.23'19.487.097°
11 Nov 202531.72'20.487.804°
12 Nov 202531.23'21.488.024°
13 Nov 202530.78'22.487.808°
14 Nov 202530.39'23.487.230°
26 Nov 202530.27'5.72-6.459°
27 Nov 202530.63'6.72-7.095°
28 Nov 202531.05'7.72-7.447°
29 Nov 202531.52'8.72-7.439°
30 Nov 202532.02'9.72-7.008°
08 Dec 202532.44'17.726.680°
09 Dec 202531.91'18.727.561°
10 Dec 202531.38'19.727.916°
11 Dec 202530.87'20.727.788°
12 Dec 202530.43'21.727.247°
26 Dec 202531.06'5.93-6.615°
27 Dec 202531.43'6.93-6.624°

 

In Latitude (negative is southern)

DateSizeAgeAnglePhase
12 Jan 202531.85'12.07-6.565°
13 Jan 202531.60'13.07-6.448°
26 Jan 202530.57'26.076.621°
27 Jan 202530.96'27.076.622°
08 Feb 202531.60'9.48-6.682°
09 Feb 202531.36'10.48-6.624°
22 Feb 202530.21'23.486.703°
23 Feb 202530.61'24.486.800°
24 Feb 202531.06'25.486.559°
07 Mar 202531.74'6.97-6.762°
08 Mar 202531.39'7.97-6.766°
09 Mar 202531.05'8.97-6.404°
21 Mar 202529.85'20.976.665°
22 Mar 202530.16'21.976.852°
23 Mar 202530.54'22.976.721°
03 Apr 202532.33'4.54-6.682°
04 Apr 202531.86'5.54-6.784°
05 Apr 202531.40'6.54-6.493°
17 Apr 202529.65'18.546.506°
18 Apr 202529.86'19.546.754°
19 Apr 202530.14'20.546.698°
30 Apr 202532.98'2.19-6.438°
01 May 202532.55'3.19-6.675°
02 May 202532.05'4.19-6.485°
15 May 202529.78'17.196.605°
16 May 202529.99'18.196.587°
28 May 202532.97'0.87-6.528°
29 May 202532.60'1.87-6.460°
11 Jun 202529.82'14.876.526°
12 Jun 202530.02'15.876.530°
24 Jun 202532.85'27.87-6.457°
25 Jun 202532.68'28.87-6.502°
08 Jul 202529.84'12.566.561°
09 Jul 202530.07'13.566.600°
21 Jul 202532.45'25.56-6.493°
22 Jul 202532.38'26.56-6.624°
04 Aug 202529.76'10.206.646°
05 Aug 202529.99'11.206.748°
06 Aug 202530.28'12.206.541°
17 Aug 202532.23'23.20-6.553°
18 Aug 202532.11'24.20-6.755°
19 Aug 202531.94'25.20-6.550°
31 Aug 202529.61'7.756.661°
01 Sep 202529.78'8.756.848°
02 Sep 202530.05'9.756.733°
13 Sep 202532.46'20.75-6.508°
14 Sep 202532.22'21.75-6.794°
15 Sep 202531.95'22.75-6.665°
27 Sep 202529.47'5.176.540°
28 Sep 202529.56'6.176.805°
29 Sep 202529.74'7.176.779°
30 Sep 202530.01'8.176.453°
11 Oct 202532.77'19.17-6.687°
12 Oct 202532.41'20.17-6.652°
25 Oct 202529.42'3.486.651°
26 Oct 202529.52'4.486.681°
27 Oct 202529.69'5.486.423°
07 Nov 202533.37'16.48-6.472°
08 Nov 202533.10'17.48-6.565°
21 Nov 202529.39'0.726.513°
22 Nov 202529.46'1.726.567°
05 Dec 202533.44'14.72-6.511°
18 Dec 202529.42'27.726.502°
19 Dec 202529.48'28.726.570°

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

2025-01-20, Samyang 135mm, Uranus-C (IMX585), LPR II filter, Hubble palette

 

Random Mini Poster

Horsehead Nebula IC 434 in Hɑ

View all posters

 

Latest Planetary Image

2025-01-14, Celestron 8, Uranus-C, UV/IR-Cut filter

 

Latest Movie

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

 

Latest Constellation Image

D5500, 50mm lens at f2.8, LPF, 131 x 30s, ISO1600.

 

Latest Lunar Image

C8, ASI290MM, IR642 filter (Jan 08, 2024).

 

Latest Astro Poster

Samyang 135mm, Uranus-C, dual-band and LPR filters.

 

Latest Infographic

Celestron 8 XLT, Uranus-C, UV/IR filter

 

Latest Lunar Poster

Celestron 8 XLT, Uranus-C, UV/IR filter

 

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Click to enlarge or show full screen

 


 

Source: apod.nasa.gov

Latest STScI News Release

Webb Reveals Rapid-Fire Light Show From Milky Way's Central Black Hole

A large, black circle representing a black hole occupies the right third of the frame in this illustration. Thick, clumpy orange streaks arc above and below it, essentially surrounding it. The top arc extends down to the lower left and then curves around in front of the black hole to form a disk that is tilted toward the viewer. Near the inner edge of the disk, several bright, whiter spots have blue filaments looping above them, representing flares. The words “Artist’s Concept” appear in the bottom left corner in gray.

February 18, 2025

A large, black circle representing a black hole occupies the right third of the frame in this illustration. Thick, clumpy orange streaks arc above and below it, essentially surrounding it. The top arc extends down to the lower left and then curves around in front of the black hole to form a disk that is tilted toward the viewer. Near the inner edge of the disk, several bright, whiter spots have blue filaments looping above them, representing flares. The words “Artist’s Concept” appear in the bottom left corner in gray.

Source: stsci.edu/news

Tonight's Sky

Has been moved to YouTube

Latest JWST News

Webb watches carbon-rich dust shells form, expand in star system

Observations of Wolf-Rayet 140 (MIRI Images, annotated)

13 January 2025

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have identified two stars responsible for generating carbon-rich dust a mere 5000 light-years away in our own Milky Way galaxy. As the massive stars in Wolf-Rayet 140 swing past one another on their elongated orbits, their winds collide and produce the carbon-rich dust. For a few months every eight years, the stars form a new shell of dust that expands outward — and may eventually go on to become part of stars that form elsewhere in our galaxy.


Source: esawebb.org

JWST Picture of the Month

Webb investigates a dusty and dynamic disc

https://cdn.esawebb.org/archives/images/thumb350x/potm2501a.jpg

4 February 2025
This new NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month presents HH 30 in unprecedented resolution. This target is an edge-on protoplanetary disc that is surrounded by jets and a disc wind, and is located in the dark cloud LDN 1551 in the Taurus Molecular Cloud. Herbig-Haro objects are small nebulae found in star formation regions, marking the locations where gas outflowing from young stars is heated into luminescence by shockwaves. HH 30 is an example of where this outflowing gas takes the form of a narrow jet. The source star is located on one end of the jet, hidden behind an edge-on protoplanetary disc that the star is illuminating. HH 30 is of particular interest to astronomers. In fact, the HH 30 disc is considered the prototype of an edge-on disc, thanks to its early discovery with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Discs seen from this view are …


Source: esawebb.org

NASA Image of the Day

Artemis II Rocket Booster Stacking Complete

Engineers with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems complete stacking operations on the twin SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters for Artemis II by integrating the nose cones atop the forward assemblies inside the Vehicle Assembly Building’s High Bay 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. The twin solid boosters will help support the remaining rocket components and the Orion spacecraft during final assembly of the Artemis II Moon rocket and provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust during liftoff from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B.

Click to enlarge or show full screen

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:03 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 100.5 MB)

 

EAA e-brochure (PDF 84.9 MB) In work. Pre-release for feedbacks.

 

Planetary Imaging e-brochure (PDF 17.4 MB) In work. Pre-release for feedbacks.

 


Recent

1. Certain people appear to enjoy filling forms with random letters for no purpose but insane self-satisfaction. Most of this stupid folks leave their IP addresses which are forwarded to their provider companies. This kind of human crap should not be entitled for using the internet. All so received forms are automatically deleted. Sadly, the world is overfilled with idiots, trolls and criminals. This is a public web site without any sensitive data. No need for these irrational displays.

2. Now in the process of changing all large images to AVIF or WEBP format resulting in considerably reduced file size and download time hardly sacrificing quality as compared with JPEG.

 

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Last visit from: US 
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Deepsky Overview
My Humble Gallery
Lunar Imaging
FOV Simulator
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Let's Astrophoto
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Total Exoplanet Count: 5834

Kepler/K2: 3325 planets
TESS: 604 planets
Latest exoplanet around:  
as of 2025-02-12

ConstellationCanes Venatici
Distance73.48 parsec
Magnitude12.41 vis.
Mass0.64 xSun
Radius0.62 xSun
Temperature4034°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 13
Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory 6
Gemini Observatory 10
Haleakala Observatory 2
HATNet 67
HATSouth 73
Haute-Provence Observatory 66
Hubble Space Telescope 6
Infrared Survey Facility 1
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) 1
K2 547
KELT 10
KELT-North 7
KELT-South 4
Kepler 2778
Kitt Peak National Observatory 1
KMTNet 101
KOINet 1
La Silla Observatory 285
Large Binocular Telescope Observatory 3
Las Campanas Observatory 29
Leoncito Astronomical Complex 1
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Lowell Observatory 3
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McDonald Observatory 31
MEarth Project 2
MOA 31
Multiple Facilities 18
Multiple Observatories 319
NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) 1
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OGLE 106
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Palomar Observatory 2
Paranal Observatory 30
Parkes Observatory 2
Qatar 10
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory 35
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Subaru Telescope 11
SuperWASP 113
SuperWASP-North 5
SuperWASP-South 32
Teide Observatory 1
Thueringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg 8
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) 604
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

2025 DQ on 2025-Feb-21 17:50 UTC at 0.7793 LD

 

⎘

Next Meteor Shower

Gamma Normids
25 Feb - 28 Mar, Peak: 3/14
Radiant: Star Chart, Rating: bright

 

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ISS Live Cameras

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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 🔗

 

279 G. Sagittarii (GJ 783 A ) in Microscopium

Distance: 20 light-years, Magnitude: 5.3

Gliese 783 (279 G. Sagittarii) is a binary star system which is approaching the sun at a velocity of about 129 km/s. At this rate, it will be 6.7 light years away in 41,100 years, and ten times brighter than now. The A-B pair's masses are 65%/24% solar and measure 66%/28% the radius of the sun. The two stars are separated by a semi-major axis of 56.3 AUs.

Star Chart | DSS IR Image 🔗

 

M36 (Open Cluster) in Auriga

Magnitude: 6

Located a little more than 4000 light years away, this group of about 60 stars spans about 14 light-years. One star in kit seems brighter than the rest. It is a spectral type B2 and about 360 more luminous than our Sun. Some 25 million years old, M36 shares a lot in common with another nearby star cluster, the Pleiades.

Star Chart | DSS IR Image 🔗

 

Cygnus (northern), area rank: 16

Delegating summer, Cygnus is also called the "Northern Cross", owing to its cross-like shape. At the tail of the "swan" shines the 1st-magnitude star Deneb. The binary star Albireo shines beautifully in yellow and blue at the nib. Cygnus is home to the majority of confirmed Kepler planets and the popular 'North America' nebula (NGC 7000).

Star Chart

 

45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova

Discovered on December 3, 1948, 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova is a short-period comet on an elliptical orbit with a period of 5.26 years. Its nucleus is estimated to be 0.5-1.6 kilometers in diameter. The comet made a close approach of only 0.06 AU (8,980,000 km) from the Earth on August 15, 2011.

 

 

Myrrha (Asteroid)

Semi-major: 3.21900 AU, Size: 120.58 km

Discovered on Jan 10, 1894 by French astronomer Auguste Charlois, 381 Myrrha is an over 120km wide large C-type main belt asteroid, probably composed of carbonaceous materials and rotating around its axis once in 6.572 hours.

 

 

Puck (moon of Uranus)

Discovered in 1985 in Voyager 2 images, Puck is the largest of Uranus' lesser moons. The orbit of Puck lies between the rings of Uranus and the first of Uranus' large moons, Miranda. It has a dark, heavily cratered surface, which shows spectral signs of water ice.

 

 

TOI-500 b (in Puppis)

Mass: 0.00447 xJup
Radius: 0.104 xJup
SMA: 0.01189 AU
Period: 0.548177 days
Distance: 47.3924 parsec
Category: Hot Terran
ESI: 0.291816

Star Chart | DSS IR Image 🔗

 

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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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