What's Up | Universe Today

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! We're back and recovered from a star party – and what an awesome time! (I felt like Dorothy in the "Land of Oz"… Comets and meteors and galaxies… oh, my!) I am sure that many of you also enjoyed a great time and although the Moon is back on this weekend scene, why not celebrate it? Just how long has it been since you've kicked back and relaxed with a little lunacy in your scope? Pick up a sketchbook, or get creative with a camera! Lunatic fringe? I know you're out there. And I'll see you inside… Read more…

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Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Now that the Moon is backing off the early evening skies, it's time to enjoy some more elusive targets – like ones that are gone in the "blink" of an eye, or "veiled" in mystery… While you might think all of these are telescope-only domain, if you've got dark skies and eyes, you might be surprised! Why not take some time this weekend to get out your telescopes or binoculars and have some fun? There's some tasty summer treats waiting on you, and I'll see you in the backyard… Read more…

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Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! It's big… It's bright. It's undeniably the Moon. So what are we going to do this weekend? Why, study of course! We'll take a look at some history, some mystery and even some cool variability that can be studied without any special equipment. Are you ready to journey into the night? Read more…

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Eclipse - J. Whires/NASA

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Heads up to observers in most of Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa and South America for Saturday night's partial lunar eclipse. For everyone else, be sure to keep a watch on western ecliptic plane as Mercury, Venus and Saturn join together for a dazzling weekend show! Although the Moon, will keep us in the "pits" we'll still take a look at the "Eye of the Archer" and go "Butterfly" hunting. Now, let's wait on night and slip outside… Together. Read more…

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'Nimbus' - Shevill Mathers

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Are you ready for another weekend? As the seasons slowly begin to change for both hemispheres and the Moon grows more full, look for an optical phenomena known as a "nimbus" – or halo around the Moon. While it's nothing more than a thin layer of ice crystals in the upper troposphere, it is a wonderfully inspiring sight and was once used as a means of weather forecasting. If you see a nimbus, try counting the number of stars visible inside the halo and see if it matches the number of days before bad weather arrives! In the meantime, follow me as we head out on our next weekend journey into the night… Read more…

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Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Are you ready for a great dark sky weekend? Then it's time to walk into the galaxy field of dreams as we take a closer look at part of Markarian's Chain. Even smaller telescopes and larger binoculars will be happy with this weekend's globular clusters! Need more or something totally unusual? Then join us as we take a look at a Wolf-Rayet star. Are you ready? Then it's time to head out under dark skies, because… Here's what's up! Read more…

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Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! What does the weekend have in store for those who observe the starry vistas with their eyes, binoculars, or telescopes? Let's head out into the night, because the mysteries of the Cosmos await. Read more…

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Please note that this is going to be the last edition of the What's Up series of articles on Universe Today. From here on out, Tammy's daily skywatching guide will be published in a book called the Night Sky Companion. Tammy is still writing for Universe Today, and will be posting articles about skywatching and events on a regular basis.

Monday, December 24 – Twas the night before Christmas in a sky filled with stars… And low on the horizon are the Yule Moon and Mars! That's right. It's the Full Yule Moon, and arriving at the same time Mars reaches opposition. For many viewers, the spectacular pair will rise with Mars less than a degree south of Luna… But a pairing this close means a few lucky observers could be in for an occultation event! Be sure to check IOTA for possible times and locations.
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Monday, December 17 – Tonight there are craters galore to explore: Plato, Aristotle, Eudoxus, Archimedes… But let's head to the north of Sinus Medii and have a look at a pair we've not yet encountered on our lunar travels – Agrippa and Godin. The larger of the two, Agrippa, measures around 46 kilometers in diameter and drops to a depth of 3070 meters. To the south is Godin, which is somewhat smaller at 35 kilometers in diameter, but a bit deeper at 3200 meters. Note how Godin's interior slopes towards its central peak.
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Monday, December 10 – If you are out stargazing until the morning hours, look for the peak of the Monocerid meteor shower. Its fall rate is around one per hour and its radiant point is near Gemini.

Tonight let's go north for a mid-size scope challenge about two fingerwidths east-northeast of the beautiful double star Gamma Andromedae (RA 02 22 32.90 Dec +43 20 45.8).
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Monday, December 3 – Today in 1971, the Soviet Mars 3 became the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the red planet, and two years later on this same date the Pioneer 10 mission became the first spacecraft to fly by Jupiter. One year later on this same date? Pioneer 11 did the same thing!
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Monday, November 26 – Today in 1965 marked the launch of the first French satellite – Asterix 1. Today is also the seventh anniversary of the discovery of the meteorites SAU 005 & 008: the "Mars Meteorites." These meteorites are known to be of Martian origin because of gases preserved in the glassy material of their interior. They were hurled into space some 600,000 years ago when a probable asteroid impact on Mars tossed them high enough to escape the planet's gravity, and they were captured by our gravity these many thousands of years later. They are just two of the 32 meteorites found on Earth which have been positively determined from their chemical compositions to be of Martian origin.
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Monday, November 19 – Even if you only use binoculars tonight, you can't miss the beautiful C-shape of Sinus Iridium as it comes into view on the lunar surface. As we have learned, the mountains that ring it are called the Juras, and the crater punctuating them is named Bianchini. Do you remember what the bright tips of the opening into the "Bay of Rainbows" are called? That's right: Promontorium LaPlace to the northeast and Promontorium Heraclides to the southwest. Now take a good look at Heraclides… Just south of here is where Luna 17 landed, leaving the Lunokhod rover to explore!
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Monday, November 12 – Can you spot the thin crescent of the Moon on the western horizon at sunset? Let Jupiter help you. Look for the slim appearance of Selene about 3 fingerwidths south.
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Monday, November 5 – If you're out looking for meteors this morning – and even if you're not – take a look at the sweet pairing of the Moon and Venus. Take out a scope! Which has the larger crescent visible?

Today in 1906, a man named Fred Whipple was born. If that name doesn't ring a bell for you – it should. Thanks to Dr. Whipple's work we have a clearer understanding of the orbital mechanics of comets and their relation to meteoroid streams. Not only that, but he founded the SAO observatory in Arizona, discovered six comets, made invaluable contributions to research in the upper atmosphere, and was the first to call a comet a "dirty snowball." His guess about the outgassing properties of comets was proved true when the first flyby of Comet Halley was made!
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