What’s Up

Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: May 14-20, 2012

May 13, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Dark skies mean galactic studies and this is going to be a terrific week for sacrificing Viginis. But, hang on to your socks… Because it’s solar eclipse time! We’re talking about an annular event that occurs over a 240 to 300 kilometre-wide track which crosses eastern Asia, the northern Pacific Ocean and [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast – May 7-13, 2012

May 6, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! With the Moon rising a bit later each night, it’s time to begin the galaxy hunt once again! Keep an eye on Venus as it heads quickly towards the Sun and becomes more slender and brilliant each night. Don’t forget about Mars and Saturn, too… They are both well-placed for early evening [...]

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It’s Time to Welcome Night Shining Clouds

May 3, 2012

Astronomers usually curse and shake their fist at clouds for obscuring the sky and spoiling their observations. This month however, we enter the season when, after dark, thin veils of clouds appear to glow with an eerie blue light and are eagerly awaited and sought after.

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: April 30-May 6, 2012

April 29, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Are you ready for another week filled with bright planets, a meteor shower, challenging lunar features, interesting stars and astronomy history? Then you have come to the right place! Bring along your telescopes and binoculars and meet me in the backyard…

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: April 23-29, 2012

April 22, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! What a great week to just enjoy some great unaided eye astronomy observations. Who can resist the beautiful appearance of Mars in Leo? Also this week, you’ll enjoy not one – but two – meteor showers as the Mu Virginids come to town mid-week and the Bootids light up the weekend. Get [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast – April 16-22, 2012

April 14, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! It’s International Dark Skies Week and a great time to enjoy astronomy! We’ll start off with an impressive galaxy for even small optics and enjoy two meteor showers. There are planets and planetary nebula to explore, as well as some awesome globular clusters. If you’re in the mood, there’s some history to [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: April 2-8, 2012

April 1, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Despite the Moon, it will be a great week as the month of April opens with two meteor showers. The planetary action doesn’t stop, because Venus is about to become a “guest star” in the Pleiades! Need more? Then know it’s the right time of year to spot aurora – and to [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast – March 19-25, 2012

March 18, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! The week starts off with new Moon and the perfect opportunity to do a Messier Marathon. The planets continue to dazzle as we not only celebrate the Vernal Equinox, but the March Geminid meteor shower as well! If that doesn’t get your pulsar racing – nothing will. It’s time to get out [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast – March 12-18, 2012

March 11, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! What an awesome display of planets! Please take the time to walk outdoors just after skydark – regardless of where you live – and enjoy the bright display of Venus and Jupiter! However, this isn’t the only planetary action going on this week… Mars and M96 pair up, as well as Uranus [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: March 5-11, 2012

March 4, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Our week begins with the dance of the planets and a gathering of asteroids. Keep watching as Mars makes its closest approach of the year – while Venus and Jupiter continue to get nearer. Celebrate the Full Worm Moon, interesting stars and beautful galaxies and clusters! Dust off those binoculars and telescopes [...]

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Night Sky Guide: March 2012

March 2, 2012

Special thanks to Ninian Boyle astronomyknowhow.com for information in parts of this guide. March brings us some wonderful sights to see in the night skies for those who are armed with binoculars, telescopes or just their eyes. The brightest object in the night sky this month (apart from the Moon) is the Planet Venus. Venus [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: February 19-25, 2012

February 18, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! It’s going to be an awesome week as we watch the planets – Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury – dance along the ecliptic plane. You don’t even need a telescope for this show! But that’s not all. We’ll take a look at a wealth of bright star clusters, challenging studies and [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast – February 12-18, 2012

February 11, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! As the Moon fades away, dark sky studies return and so do we as we take a look at a great collection of nebulae this week and expand your Herschel studies. Get out your binoculars and telescopes, because here’s what’s up!

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Night Sky Guide: February 2012

February 1, 2012

Special thanks to Ninian Boyle astronomyknowhow.com for information in parts of this guide This month, the Solar System gives us a lot to observe and we’ll even start to see the ‘spring’ constellations appear later in the evenings. But February still has the grand constellations of winter, with mighty Orion as a centrepiece to long [...]

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Night Sky Guide: January 2012

December 30, 2011

January brings us striking views of the night skies! You’ll be able to see well known constellations during the long hours of darkness in the Northern hemisphere, with crisp cold skies. This is an ideal time to get out and look at the wonders of the night sky as there is so much to see [...]

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Top Astronomy Events Coming Up in 2012

December 22, 2011

As 2011 is drawing to a close, the festive season is here and many of us are winding down and looking forward to the holidays. But this is a great time to look ahead to 2012 and pencil into our calendar and diaries the top astronomical events we don’t want to miss next year. 2012 [...]

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Why Can We See Multiple ISS Passes Right Now?

June 14, 2011

Last night in the UK, US and Europe, we were spoiled with multiple and bright ISS passes. Not just one or two, but up to six passes were able to be viewed throughout the evening in some locations. This is quite rare as normally we get only one or maybe two visible passes in the [...]

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Supernova Discovered in M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy

June 3, 2011

A new supernova (exploding star) has been discovered in the famous Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. M51, The Whirlpool galaxy is a galaxy found in the constellation of Canes Venatici, very near the star Alkaid in the handle of the saucepan asterism of the big dipper. Easily found with binoculars or a small telescope. The discovery was [...]

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Coming Soon – Night Shining Noctilucent Clouds

May 24, 2011

Soon you may see an eerie spectacle on clear summer nights if you are located at latitudes between 50° and 70° north and south of the equator: Noctilucent Clouds. These ghostly apparitions are a delight to see and are quite rare. It is incredibly difficult to predict exactly when they will appear, but we do [...]

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What’s Up in the May Nighttime Skies?

May 2, 2011

Jane Houston Jones from JPL provides a preview of what you can expect to see in the night skies in May, 2011.

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