Astronomy

The Great Comet of 1881

The Great Comet of 1881, as observed 142 years ago today on the night of June 25–26th.  Plate XI from Étienne Léopold Trouvelot’s “Astronomical Drawings” (1882). See more imagery of comets, meteors, meteorites and shooting stars through the ages at The Public Domain Review’s  “Flowers of the Sky,” https://buff.ly/2M7wVjn

Orionid Meteor Shower This Weekend, Oct 21 – 23

 
Don’t be alarmed if you see balls of fire in the sky this weekend. 
 
“The Orionid meteor shower is active from Sept. 26 to Nov. 22, with a peak during the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 21. NASA says this shower is considered “one of the most beautiful meteor showers of the year,” known for bright, fast shooting stars that leave long trails glowing in their wake.”
 
More here and below.  Enjoy.
 

Stunning meteor shower from Halley’s Comet to light up night skies  

The Orionid meteor shower is active from Sept. 26 to Nov. 22, with a peak during the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 21. NASA says this shower is considered “one of the most beautiful meteor showers of the year,” known for bright, fast shooting stars that leave long trails glowing in their wake. 

Fast meteors like the Orionids can sometimes even leave “fireballs,” or longer explosions of light.

Read on to learn about the shower and how to watch it. 

What are the Orionids? 

This meteor shower is caused by space debris from what could be the best-known comet ever: Halley’s Comet, which takes 76 years to orbit the Sun just once. It hasn’t been seen by casual Earth stargazers since 1986. NASA says it’ll return in 2061, if you want to add that to your calendar. 

The comet is named for English astronomer Edmond Halley, who correctly predicted its return. 

Halley’s Comet sheds streams of ice and dust every time it circles back through the inner solar system, leading to two different yearly meteor showers. 

“The Eta Aquarids are the outbound particles of Halley’s comet and the Orionids are the inbound,” American Meteor Society editor Robert Lunsford said, adding that both showers have a nearly two-month active period. “Halley’s Comet has been through the inner solar system so many times, a lot of the particles have spread out.”

Estimates for how many meteors you could see per hour vary, with NASA predicting 15 and AMS estimating 10 to 20. Due to the long active period for the Orionids, those peak rates are expected to last longer than for other showers. 

“That’s what’s different about this long period shower — it has a plateau-like maximum,” Lunsford said. “So if you miss the night of maximum activity, the night after and even a couple of nights after that is well worth watching.”

The Orionids meteor shower has a history of surprising its viewers. AMS says in 2006 to 2009, the shower’s peak rates rivaled that of the stunning Perseids, which can average 50 to 75 meteors per hour.

How to watch the meteor shower this week

The Orionids will peak in the early morning hours between Thursday and Friday. 

NASA recommends watching in the hours between midnight and dawn, well away from city lights if possible. A lawn chair or sleeping bag will help you stay cozy as your eyes adapt to the darkness — this takes about 30 minutes. As experienced stargazers know, some patience will come in handy. 

“Watch for at least an hour… Because there’s peaks and valleys of activity, a in all meteor showers,” Lunsford said. “You could be out there at the wrong time and see nothing. And then during the next five or 10 minute period, you’ll see all kinds of activity.”

Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse this Weekend!

This weekend you can catch a rare “Super Blood Moon” or “Super Flower Blood Moon” total lunar eclipse across all the US.  More info below, but here are the best viewing times.  It’ll happen right around midnight on Sunday, EDT.

Specific Times of Total Lunar Eclipse (EDT)

  • Partial eclipse begins at 10:27 PM May 15
  • Totality begins at 11:29 PM EDT
  • Totality ends at 12:54 a.m. EDT
  • Partial eclipse ends at 1:55 AM EDT (May 16)

 

‘Super Flower Blood Moon’ Lunar Eclipse is Coming Sunday Night. Here’s What You Need to Know.

USA TODAY

Get ready for a sky spectacle this weekend.

A “super flower blood moon” lunar eclipse will be coming to the night sky on Sunday. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the full moon and the sun. 

During the eclipse, the moon will receive only sunlight bent through the Earth’s atmosphere, and will change color over the minutes, from gray to pink to orange to red. 

The Earth’s shadow covers the moon, which often has a red color, hence the blood moon nickname. Although it’s completely in the shadow of Earth, a bit of reddish sunlight still reaches the moon.

The eclipse will begin when the Earth’s shadow appears on the moon at 10:27 p.m. EDT Sunday evening. Over the course of an hour, the shadow will creep across the moon, plunging the lunar surface into darkness. 

Totality, or when the moon is entirely in the Earth’s shadow, will occur from 11:29 p.m. May 15 to 12:53 a.m. May 16.

You don’t need special glasses or gizmos to view the spectacle, unlike a solar eclipse, so feel free to stare directly at the moon. Binoculars or a telescope will improve the view.

The eclipse will be visible in total phase from portions of the Americas, Antarctica, Europe, Africa and the east Pacific, according to Space.com,

This will be the first of two lunar eclipses in 2022, Space.com said. The next one will occur Nov. 8.

What is a supermoon?

A supermoon means the moon looks a bit bigger than usual since it’s a bit closer to the Earth.

“Because the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle, the moon is sometimes closer to the Earth than at other times during its orbit,” according to NASA.

On average, supermoons appear about 7% bigger and about 15% brighter than a typical full moon.

It’s also the ‘flower’ moon

Sunday’s sky show is also the “flower” moon, a name given to May’s full moon because “flowers spring forth across North America in abundance this month,” the Old Farmer’s Almanac said.  

The full moon names used by the almanac come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American and European sources. Traditionally, each full moon name was applied to the entire lunar month in which it occurred, not solely to the full moon.

Other names for May’s full moon include the corn planting moon and the milk moon, NASA said.

Worm Moon Tonight!

From CNN:

One of the brightest heralds of spring makes its appearance this week.

The March full moon, known as the worm moon, will be at its peak at 3:18 a.m. ET on Friday, March 18, according to NASA. It will appear full through Saturday morning.

(See more below for, er, how it got its name.)

 

 

 
This moon will appear larger to viewers because of the “moon illusion,” according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. This occurs when the moon is near the horizon and our eyes compare the moon’s size to trees, buildings or other earthly objects. By comparing these reference points to the moon, our brain tricks us into thinking the moon is bigger.
 
Southern Native American tribes named the worm moon after the earthworm casts — essentially feces — that emerged as the ground thawed at winter’s end, according to NASA.

Comet Leonard 2021

There’ve been some remarkable photos of Comet Leonard as it approaches the sun.  Here are a few recent ones, taken from Sky and Telescope.

 

Braided flows of gas and dust stream from the head of Comet Leonard in a photo taken with an 8-inch telescope and QHY600 camera on December 24, 2021. Michael Jäger and Lukas Demetz.

 

Like water from a rotary lawn sprinkler, dust jets blast from the comet’s false nucleus in this carefully processed image from December 23, 2021. Michael Jäger, Lukas Demetz and Qi Yang

 

 

Comet Leonard shows off a pretty tail several degrees long on December 19, 2021, from Payson, Arizona. The comet’s altitude at the time was about 10°. Chris Schur

Beaver Moon Lunar Eclipse, Nov 18-19: the Longest Lunar Eclipse in 580 Years

Heads up for this spectacular lunar eclipse in the pre-dawn hours of Nov 19, 2021.  Lasting 6 hours, it’ll be the longest lunar eclipse in almost 600 years.  Expect excellent visibility all across North and South America, much of Asia, and parts of Europe and west Africa.  During the period of maximum eclipse, the Moon may appear a deep red color.

In North America, the period of maximum eclipse will be right around 4:00 a.m. EST, with almost 2 hours of partial eclipse before and after that. 

More below, from Space.com.

 

Beaver Moon lunar eclipse 2021: When, where and how to see it on Nov. 19

By Elizabeth Howell 

This will be the longest partial lunar eclipse in nearly 600 years.

On Nov. 19, a partial lunar eclipse will reward patient sky observers with a view of a subtly changing moon and is a must-see event as it’s the last lunar eclipse of the year. The moon may even take on a reddish hue.

Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes into the Earth’s shadow. In this case, the partial eclipse phase will last 3 hours, 28 minutes and 24 seconds, and the full eclipse for 6 hours and 1 minute, making it the longest partial eclipse in 580 years, according to Indiana’s Holcomb Observatory. 

At maximum eclipse, the moon’s face will be 97% covered by the deepest part of the Earth’s shadow and will probably turn a deep red, the observatory said. November’s full moon is traditional known as the Beaver Moon, as beavers are preparing for winter, hence this month’s event’s Beaver Moon eclipse moniker.

Visibility will be excellent across the Americas, much of Asia and parts of Europe and west Africa, and with the long event time you’ll have maximum opportunity to dodge clouds or crowded schedules to see the event unfold.

“Partial lunar eclipses might not be quite as spectacular as total lunar eclipses – where the moon is completely covered in Earth’s shadow – but they occur more frequently,” NASA said in a description of the eclipse. “And that just means more opportunities to witness little changes in our solar system that sometimes occur right before our eyes.”

Lunar eclipses are long events. This one will last about six hours and will peak at 4:02 a.m. EST (0902 GMT). The event will be visible from North and South America, Australia, and parts of Europe and Asia. 

The eclipse will take place in four main phases, according to NASA. At 1:02 a.m. EST (0602 GMT) the moon will enter the penumbra, or the lighter part of the moon’s shadow. This phase is usually hard to spot without special equipment because the darkening is so slight. 

The moon will then arrive at the umbra, or the darker part of the shadow, at 2:18 a.m. EST (0718 GMT). Here you will get to enjoy about 3.5 hours of the moon passing through the deep shadow until it exits the umbra at 5:47 a.m. (1047 GMT). The eclipse will end at 6:03 a.m. EST (1203 GMT).

Assuming you can see the entire eclipse, the moon will have different appearances at different stages of the event. While it is in the penumbra or lighter part of the Earth’s shadow, it may be difficult for you to see anything at all, especially if you live in a light-polluted region. But as the moon moves closer to the umbra or deep shadow, it will begin to darken, turning a bit greyer than usual.

As the moon approaches the deepest part of the eclipse, the moon will likely turn a dark red or a brown region as it will be 97% eclipsed at the peak. The moon won’t be covered all the way, though, as at the point of greatest eclipse there will still be a region near the bottom of the moon (or top of the moon, if you are viewing through many kinds of telescopes) that is in full sunlight.

Depending on where you are located, you may not be able to see all of the eclipse. The entire sequence is visible for most of North and Central America, along with the far east of Asia, although extreme eastern regions of the Americas may only be able to view the eclipse before the moon exits the umbral phase.

South America will see most of the eclipse before moonset. Europe and western Africa will see some of the beginning of the eclipse, and central Asia along with the southern Pacific and Australia will see some of the eclipse around moonrise. You can find more details about your region at the NASA website.

Comet Leonard – the New Year’s Comet

Look for Comet Leonard–sighted just last year–to make a bright showing this New Year’s.

 

Comet Leonard, Oct 29, 2021

From EarthSky News:

Exciting news! A much-anticipated comet is brightening and still might become 2021’s brightest comet. Astronomer Greg Leonard discovered the comet that now bears his name – C/2021 A1 (Leonard) – last January 3. Astronomers reported then that discovery images showed a tail for the comet, suggesting we might see a nice tail as Comet Leonard draws closer to the Earth and sun. The comet is now between the orbits of Mars and Earth, heading inward. Comets are typically brightest around the time they’re closest to the sun. And Comet Leonard will reach perihelion, its closest point to the sun, around January 3, 2022. That’s after its closest point to Earth on December 12.

Read more here.