The Moon and Venus

e Moon, Venus and Aldebaran
The Moon, Venus and Aldebaran join up for an evening conjunction

Tomorrow morning will feature a very close pairing of a 15% crescent Moon and a brilliant Venus just
½° apart. The pair will be situated between Jupiter above and Saturn rising below.

The Moon is close to ½° across, thus the planet will lie quite close to the tip of a beautiful, slim crescent. Shining at a brilliant -4.2 magnitude the planet is also a match for the bright Moon.

A beautiful lineup of Moon and planets should make it worth the effort to rise early and enjoy the pre-dawn spectacle.

Mercury at Superior Conjunction

Today Mercury is passing through superior conjunction, passing around the far side of the Sun as seen from our earthbound vantage point. This fast moving planet will reappear in the sunset in about a week, rising towards maximum elongation on February 26th.

This will be a modest apparition, with the planet only 18° from the Sun at maximum. The next evening apparition in June is much better, reaching over 25° from the Sun.

Mercury Events for 2019
ApparitionDate ElongationMagnitude
Evening Feb 2718.1°E -0.2
Morning Apr 1127.7°W +0.6
Evening Jun 2325.2°E +0.7
Morning Aug 919.0°W +0.3
Evening Oct 2024.6°E +0.1
Morning Nov 2820.1°W -0.3
Data from the Mercury Chaser’s Calculator by John Walker

Mauna Kea

Not the first time I have attempted to take this photo, rather the fourth, or is it fifth?

I think I got it right this time…

Looking up at Mauna Kea from below Hale Pohaku,
Looking up at Mauna Kea from below Hale Pohaku

The image is a two frame mosaic taken with the Mavic Air and stitched in Lightroom. The trick is catching the clouds at just the right place, and racing to launch the drone from close enough to take advantage of the clouds. Conditions change with remarkable speed and fluidity as the clouds move across the flank of the mauna, surging up the slope or dissipating quickly.

Shadow on Shadow

I had a plan for this eclipse.

Partially eclipsed Moon rising above the shadow of Mauna Kea
A partially eclipsed Moon rises just above the shadow of Mauna Kea on January 20th, 2019.

I needed a quiet day to work on some code in the Keck 2 dome control PLC. One problem, every time I load code the dome lights go out. Guys working in the dome tend to object to the lights going out randomly.

Answer? Go up on a weekend when there as only a couple guys on duty and not a lot of work going on. I can have the whole telescope and dome to myself most of the day.

There is also a total lunar eclipse.

Continue reading “Shadow on Shadow”

Full Moon

Full Moon
Full Moon taken 27Aug2007, 90mm f/12 APO and Canon 20Da

Full Moon will occur today at 19:16HST.

This evening look for the Moon rising in the east just as the Sun sets in the west. Across the Big Island this can often lead to moonbows as the low elevation moonlight interacts with fog and clouds.

This full moon will feature a total lunar eclipse. For the islands the eclipse will just be starting as the Moon rises with all of totality visible.

Continue reading “Full Moon”

Total Lunar Eclipse Reminder

Lunar Eclipse 28Aug2007
Total lunar eclipse August 28, 2007

This evening will feature a sunset total lunar eclipse visible across the islands. The eclipsed Moon will rise just as the Sun sets on the opposite horizon.

The eclipse will be just underway as the Moon rises on Hawaii island, with the Moon rising at almost exactly 18:00HST and the total phase of the eclipse starting 41 minutes later. Maximum will occur at 19:12HST with the Moon 14° above the horizon.

January 20, 2019 Total Lunar Eclipse
Event ContactUT HST
Penumbral BeginsP1 02:36:2816:36:28
Partial Begins U1 03:33:5517:33:55
Total Begins U2 04:41:1818:41:18
Greatest EclipseMax05:12:1819:12:18
Total Ends U3 05:43:1819:43:18
Partial Ends U4 06:50:4220:50:42
Penumbral Ends P4 07:48:0521:48:05
*Data from Fred Espenak’s eclipse website

An easy to view evening eclipse, no reason not to get out and view this one, no need for an alarm clock!