Category: Sky Events

Sky events

Venus Transit in the Press

Public awareness of a unique astronomical event, the Transit of Venus, is appearing. While avid sky-watchers have been anticipating this event for years, the general public is mostly unaware of the event.

This seems to be changing… A number of articles have appeared in the mainstream press this last week, from MSNBC to Fox News, providing information about the transit.

Yes, it is the same article on all of the sites, all apparently picked up from the Space.com site. There is some lesson here on the nature of corporate news today. In any case it is nice to see an astronomical event getting coverage. Any opportunity to get more astronomy onto the public stage is to be taken advantage of.

A transit is a less spectacular event, not exactly a total solar eclipse. It is quite interesting from an astronomical and historical standpoint. There are other articles, the transit is getting more press as the date approaches. In the run up to June 5th it will be interesting to see just what the public response to this event will be.

Postcard from the Universe – C/2009 P1 Garradd

Currently passing through Usra Major, comet C/2009 P1 Garradd, is bright enough to appreciate in small telescopes. It is well placed for observation, well up in the sky through much of the night. At about magnitude 6.8 it is also bright enough to make an attractive photographic target.

I am not totally happy with the photo, I could have really used more time on target. Another issue, the exposures I used were a bit too long for this fast moving target, the coma is elongated in the frames. I will probably re-shoot the comet if I get a chance soon.

C/2009 P1 Garradd
Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd taken on 28Mar2012, average of 14 x 8min frames with a Canon 20Da and the AT6RC

Venus and the Pleiades

Over the next few days, the planet Venus will transit the Pleiades star cluster. Tonight sees the planet about two degrees from the cluster center, tomorrow the planet will have closed to just over a degree from Merope. April 2nd and 3rd will see the planet essentially among the primary stars of the cluster. On the 2nd the planet will be only 25′ from Merope, on the 3rd it will be 14′ from Atlas.

At -4.4 magnitude the planet will be far brighter than the brightest stars of the cluster which are 3rd and 4th magnitude. Still, it should be an interesting sight to see the brilliant Venus surrounded by a cluster of stars.

Driveway Astrophotography and Comet Garradd

Finally, a night where… A) The sky is clear. B) The wind is not howling through the palm trees. C) I am not exhausted by working the summit. D) I do not have to get up early the next morning.

A + B + C + D = Astrophotography from the driveway!

Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd
Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd on 29 March 2012 showing both tails, sum of 50 x 1 min exposures CoolSNAP ES and 180mm f/2.8 lens
Thus, under a very pretty sky, I rolled the photo rig out of the garage and spent some time getting everything back together. I was not in a hurry, time to let a bright crescent Moon set a little and my primary target rise a little. The target at the top of the list? Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd.

The comet is nicely placed in Ursa Major, transiting late in the evening, available for several hours of exposures. And expose I did, with the auto-guider locked on the a dim star beside the comet, the shutter open for well over two hours. I was shooting my Canon 20Da and the AT6RC, a combination that framed the comet nicely.

It will take a while to get the resulting images processed. In the meantime I did a quick process on a set of images taken with the wide field/finder CCD camera. The results of which can be seen at the right. I also shot a few quick images of the M95 area with the CCD to capture SN2012aw.

The Moon, Venus and Jupiter

While Jupiter and Venus are now drawing apart after their rendezvous a few days ago one more pretty dance will liven the evening sky. With the two only 10° apart a crescent Moon will slide between them. The 11% illuminated Moon will make a nice match for the two brilliant planets, creating a lovely trio in the evening sky.

Tomorrow night the Moon will have moved to the other side of Venus, still quite close at about 4° separation, creating another pretty view.