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Post by casimira on Mar 21, 2019 13:05:20 GMT
We had clear skies here and watched the GIANT luminous ball rise and stun us all.
We had a bonfire up on the levee, ate crawfish, drank beer, and celebrated the arrival of Spring.
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Sky Watch
Mar 21, 2019 13:39:25 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Mar 21, 2019 13:39:25 GMT
It was gorgeous and huge in MT too. Unfortunately, we spent more than an hour of it sitting in stopped traffic on the interstate due to a horrific wrong-way driving fatality crash between a sedan and a fully-loaded semi-tractor-trailer that closed all four lanes in both directions. (See Petty Personal Trauma.) Eventually arrived home around 11:30pm. Not an auspicious start to the spring!
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 21, 2019 17:29:21 GMT
They said that spring started at something like 22:28 in France. Does anybody know if it is the same all over, or if it shifts according to time zone? I understand sunrise and sunset being different everywhere, but seasonal changes might be calculated differently.
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Mar 21, 2019 19:19:17 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Mar 21, 2019 19:19:17 GMT
It was 10:something in NY, which translates to same clock time as yours, K2.
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May 5, 2019 20:39:59 GMT
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Post by Kimby on May 5, 2019 20:39:59 GMT
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Aug 12, 2019 17:48:39 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Aug 12, 2019 17:48:39 GMT
Tonite’s the night! The PERSEIDS, my favorite annual celestial event. I usually sleep outside for at least part of the peak night, but tonite will likely be cloudy and rainy so maybe not...
From the New York Times
Perseid Meteor Shower Will Peak in Night Skies
By Nicholas St. FleurDec. 31, 2018 All year long as Earth revolves around the sun, it passes through streams of cosmic debris. The resulting meteor showers can light up night skies from dusk to dawn, and if you’re lucky you might be able to catch a glimpse.
The next shower you might be able to see is the Perseids. Active between July 17 and Aug. 26, the show peaks around Monday night into Tuesday morning, or Aug. 12-13.
The Perseids light up the night sky when Earth runs into pieces of cosmic debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. The dirty snowball is 17 miles wide and takes about 133 years to orbit the sun. Its last go-round was in 1992.
Usually between 160 and 200 meteors dazzle in Earth’s atmosphere every hour during the display’s peak. They zoom through the atmosphere at around 133,000 miles per hour and burst about 60 miles overhead. However, the moon will be close to full, which could obscure viewing in many locations.
[Sign up to get reminders for space and astronomy events on your calendar.]
Where meteor showers come from
If you spot a meteor shower, what you’re usually seeing is an icy comet’s leftovers that crash into Earth’s atmosphere. Comets are sort of like dirty snowballs: As they travel through the solar system, they leave behind a dusty trail of rocks and ice that lingers in space long after they leave. When Earth passes through these cascades of comet waste, the bits of debris — which can be as small as grains of sand — pierce the sky at such speeds that they burst, creating a celestial fireworks display. A general rule of thumb with meteor showers: You are never watching the Earth cross into remnants from a comet’s most recent orbit. Instead, the burning bits come from the previous passes. For example, during the Perseid meteor shower you are seeing meteors ejected from when its parent comet, Comet Swift-Tuttle, visited in 1862 or earlier, not from its most recent pass in 1992.
That’s because it takes time for debris from a comet’s orbit to drift into a position where it intersects with Earth’s orbit, according to Bill Cooke, an astronomer with NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.
How to watch
The best way to see a meteor shower is to get to a location that has a clear view of the entire night sky. Ideally, that would be somewhere with dark skies, away from city lights and traffic. To maximize your chances of catching the show, look for a spot that offers a wide, unobstructed view.
Bits and pieces of meteor showers are visible for a certain period of time, but they really peak visibly from dusk to dawn on a given few days. Those days are when Earth’s orbit crosses through the thickest part of the cosmic stream. Meteor showers can vary in their peak times, with some reaching their maximums for only a few hours and others for several nights. The showers tend to be most visible after midnight and before dawn.
It is best to use your naked eye to spot a meteor shower. Binoculars or telescopes tend to limit your field of view. You might need to spend about half an hour in the dark to let your eyes get used to the reduced light. Stargazers should be warned that moonlight and the weather can obscure the shows. But if that happens, there are usually meteor livestreams like the ones hosted by NASA and by Slooh.
The International Meteor Organization lists a variety of meteor showers that can be seen in 2019.
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Sky Watch
Aug 14, 2019 21:44:23 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Aug 14, 2019 21:44:23 GMT
I checked the sky 3 times on the 12th. At bedtime, the moon was too bright, washing out the sky. At 1 or 2, it was still too bright but I saw one shooting star. At 4:30, I woke to inky black skies. Moon had set and dawn wasn’t yet creeping up on the day, so I took a blanket outside and sat for awhile. In 15-20 minutes, I saw a dozen meteors, including a couple really bright ones. And noticed my favorite winter constellation, Orion, rising in the East. I was satisfied.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 15, 2019 5:35:47 GMT
I had read that the moon was going to cause problems this year.
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Aug 15, 2019 14:35:45 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Aug 15, 2019 14:35:45 GMT
It did. But you can outsmart the moon if you are willing to leave your bed at the right time. Catch it BEFORE the moon rises or AFTER the moon sets.
Big city lighting (City of Lights?) might be insurmountable, however.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 15, 2019 15:37:37 GMT
I was just about to mention that living in the "city of lights" (although that term is a misnomer -- it is a mistranslation of "city of enlightenment" which might have been true at one time 200 years ago, but in modern times any city could claim this title). Anyway, I have no chance at all of seeing the night sky properly, so I just follow this thread vicariously.
When I was little, we had a wonderful night sky in the Deep South, but that is long gone, too. When I think of places where the night sky has stunned me in my adult life, I can name the Grand Canyon area, Mauritius, Kenya, the red centre of Australia but also Cairns, Port Elizabeth in South Africa and a few other places -- but I was often in some of those places for only one night.
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Sky Watch
Aug 15, 2019 21:46:23 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Aug 15, 2019 21:46:23 GMT
Many places in the US and I suspect elsewhere are adopting Dark Skies ordinances that restrict uplighting and unshielded light fixtures. Subdivisions put Dark Skies restrictions in their covenant documents, too. We are subject to them at both the lake cottage in Montana and the Sanibel Island, Florida house. And yes, we see stars!
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Sky Watch
Sept 10, 2019 23:54:40 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Sept 10, 2019 23:54:40 GMT
Coming soon: Friday the 13th Harvest Moon
The full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox is called a Harvest Moon. Autumn officially begins on September 23 at 3:50 a.m. EDT. (NY time)
However, this year's Harvest Moon is unlike most in that it will coincide with Friday the 13th. This rarity hasn't happened since a full moon appeared on October 13, 2000. The next time a full moon will coincide with Friday the 13th will be August 13, 2049.
I’d better appreciate this one, I’ll be 95 for the next one!
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 11, 2019 3:33:38 GMT
I will have turned 101 a couple of weeks before that event. Shall we make a date now to meet and enjoy it together?
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Post by bjd on Sept 11, 2019 9:04:13 GMT
I read something on the French weather office site about seasons. They say that meteorologists just count seasons by months: autumn is September, October, November; winter is December, January, February, etc.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 11, 2019 14:06:30 GMT
Yes, meteorological seasons are just the months, not the actual equinoxes. But I remember tod2 saying the same thing once, so it isn't just France.
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Post by mossie on Sept 11, 2019 15:14:32 GMT
Yes meteorologists seasons are simply 3 calendar months. You must have realised by now that meteorology is not an exact science, just guesswork otherwise they would never have employed me.
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Nov 10, 2019 15:02:09 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 10, 2019 15:02:09 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 10, 2019 16:30:23 GMT
I've seen plenty of articles about that but in northern Europe we might not be seeing the sun often for several months.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 10, 2019 20:02:04 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 10, 2019 21:39:38 GMT
Hoping to see the transit of Mercury tomorrow if the sun shows itself. We have two Coronado telescopes...but if its cloudy......
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 11, 2019 19:30:40 GMT
Missed first contact due to cloud but had a tantalising if brief view of the planet Mercury inching across the face of the sun before the skies darkened and we had to scuttle indoors.
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Sky Watch
Nov 12, 2019 2:50:51 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 12, 2019 2:50:51 GMT
Moon looks pretty full tonite, so I checked. It’ll be full in about 12 hours: “The next full moon will occur on November 12th at 8:34 AM ET and will be a Beaver Moon. Depending on the winter solstice, it is also known as the Frost Moon or Mourning Moon.”
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Nov 17, 2019 16:50:15 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 17, 2019 16:50:15 GMT
Leonids meteor shower peaked last night. It was cloudy here...
But I hope I’m still watching meteors in 15 years: “Every 33 years, the Leonid meteor shower arrives as a storm of meteors, with more than 1,000 shooting stars an hour.
In 2034, researchers predict that observers will have a chance to witness 2,000 meteors per hour, in a 'Leonid storm.' “
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Nov 20, 2019 17:20:54 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 20, 2019 17:20:54 GMT
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Nov 20, 2019 17:26:42 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 20, 2019 17:26:42 GMT
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Nov 21, 2019 23:16:00 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 21, 2019 23:16:00 GMT
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Nov 22, 2019 22:58:08 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 22, 2019 22:58:08 GMT
Perfect viewing conditions on our end of Sanibel Island. Clear skies, no moon, few man-made light disturbances, and lots of stars. We timed our walk to coincide with the big meteor shower, and were rewarded with 9 or 10 shooting stars, not the hundreds or even dozens we were hoping for. But they all occurred in a 15 minute window, and one was spectacularly long and bright.
Went to bed satisfied.
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Nov 24, 2019 1:11:01 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 24, 2019 1:11:01 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 24, 2019 6:29:04 GMT
Maybe I will again be somewhere some day where I can see this stuff.
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Post by casimira on Nov 26, 2019 13:59:10 GMT
Lucky you to have been on Sanibel Kimby!!!
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