http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/ -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
OT Perseids tonight
Started by ●August 11, 2008
Reply by ●August 11, 20082008-08-11
On Aug 11, 11:07 am, Jerry Avins <j...@ieee.org> wrote:> http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/yeah, but up here in New England, it's thunderstorming every day and overcast every night. Saturday was sorta nice, but tonight and tomorrow night ain't promising at all. at least the lake (Champlain) level has risen 0.75 meter and i have a sorta nice and natural waterpark in my backyard to canoe in. sometimes there is a brief splotch of sunlight. but there will be no stars or meteors for me tonight. r b-j
Reply by ●August 11, 20082008-08-11
On Aug 11, 11:07�am, Jerry Avins <j...@ieee.org> wrote:> http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/ > -- > Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. > �����������������������������������������������������������������������Thanks for the heads up. I know I'll be watching the ISS right before nine o'clock. It passed right overhead last Friday night. This time it will reach a max altitude of around 16 degrees. I'll look for some meteors after midnight. Clay
Reply by ●August 11, 20082008-08-11
clay@claysturner.com writes:> On Aug 11, 11:07�am, Jerry Avins <j...@ieee.org> wrote: >> http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/ >> -- >> Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. >> ����������������������������������������������������������������������� > > Thanks for the heads up. I know I'll be watching the ISSISS? -- % Randy Yates % "...the answer lies within your soul %% Fuquay-Varina, NC % 'cause no one knows which side %%% 919-577-9882 % the coin will fall." %%%% <yates@ieee.org> % 'Big Wheels', *Out of the Blue*, ELO http://www.digitalsignallabs.com
Reply by ●August 11, 20082008-08-11
On Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:11:33 -0400, Randy Yates <yates@ieee.org> wrote:>clay@claysturner.com writes: > >> On Aug 11, 11:07�am, Jerry Avins <j...@ieee.org> wrote: >>> http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/ >>> -- >>> Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. >>> ����������������������������������������������������������������������� >> >> Thanks for the heads up. I know I'll be watching the ISS > >ISS?ISS = International Space Station Eric Jacobsen Minister of Algorithms Abineau Communications http://www.ericjacobsen.org Blog: http://www.dsprelated.com/blogs-1/hf/Eric_Jacobsen.php
Reply by ●August 12, 20082008-08-12
On Aug 11, 7:39�pm, Eric Jacobsen <eric.jacob...@ieee.org> wrote:> On Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:11:33 -0400, Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> > wrote: > > >c...@claysturner.com writes: > > >> On Aug 11, 11:07�am, Jerry Avins <j...@ieee.org> wrote: > >>>http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/ > >>> -- > >>> Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. > >>> ����������������������������������������������������������������������� > > >> Thanks for the heads up. I know I'll be watching the ISS > > >ISS? > > ISS = International Space Station > > Eric Jacobsen > Minister of Algorithms > Abineau Communicationshttp://www.ericjacobsen.org > > Blog:http://www.dsprelated.com/blogs-1/hf/Eric_Jacobsen.phpRandy and others, A useful site for satellites and such is www.heavens-above.com Pretty much on any clear night I can spot at least 5 satellites right after sunset. It is kindof fun;-) Clay p.s. I did get to see the ISS for about 30 seconds. The southwest was all clouds and I had to wait until the ISS was just above them. At this point it was 1000km away! By midnight the cloud cover had completely covered the sky and the moon lit it all up. No meteor shower this time.
Reply by ●August 12, 20082008-08-12
On 12 Aug, 15:54, c...@claysturner.com wrote:> Pretty much on any clear night I can spot at least 5 satellites right > after sunset. It is kindof fun;-)Living near the arctic circle is a mixed pleasure what astronomy is concerned. Last night I saw the first astronomical object (except the moon or the sun) since April. Around 3AM the object was near the ecliptic due west; I suspect it was Jupiter as it was far too bright and close to the ecliptic for Vega. In winter time the Aurora often 'destroys' viewing in the nights that are *both* cloudless and no moon (all five of them), so satellites is one of few treats in the time that is left. It seems that lots of satellites are in low polar orbits; it is not unusual to see a few per night. So I've been thinking about what astronomy one *can* do in my neck'o the woods, and have concluded that solar viewing is one of very few options. Do you have any experience with PSTs? I know there has been a Ha version out for some time now, do you know what this other K (Ka?) version is all about? Rune
Reply by ●August 12, 20082008-08-12
On Aug 12, 10:09�am, Rune Allnor <all...@tele.ntnu.no> wrote:> On 12 Aug, 15:54, c...@claysturner.com wrote: > > > Pretty much on any clear night I can spot at least 5 satellites right > > after sunset. It is kindof fun;-) > > Living near the arctic circle is a mixed pleasure what astronomy > is concerned. Last night I saw the first astronomical object > (except the moon or the sun) since April. Around 3AM the object > was near the ecliptic due west; I suspect it was Jupiter as it > was far too bright and close to the ecliptic for Vega. > > In winter time the Aurora often 'destroys' viewing in the > nights that are *both* cloudless and no moon (all five of > them), so satellites is one of few treats in the time that > is left. It seems that lots of satellites are in low polar > orbits; it is not unusual to see a few per night. > > So I've been thinking about what astronomy one *can* do > in my neck'o the woods, and have concluded that solar > viewing is one of very few options. > > Do you have any experience with PSTs? I know there has > been a Ha version out for some time now, do you know > what this other K (Ka?) version is all about? > > RuneRune, Since I've never personally seen the Aurora, I've never thought about their being a hinderence to viewing. But now that you mention it, I can see how. Even when the moon is 10 degrees below the horizon, I still get a lot of skylight from it. There is no dark like a new moon night. Jupiter is in Sagittarius and even though we have recently passed it, it is still quite bright (negative magnitude). It shines like a bright beacon in the Milky Way in the east right after sunset, so at 3:00AM you would see in the west and near the eccliptic. I'm quite sure this is what you saw, and it is a lot brighter than Vega right now. Plus you know Vega is in Lyra which is right by Cynus - which contains the Northern Cross. If you have binoculars or a small telescope, you should be able to see Jupiter's 4 biggest moons. And you can watch them from night to night and see how much they move. This may prove entertaining. And if you time them well you can actually repeat Roemer's method of measuring the speed of light or at least figure out that light takes approximately 1000 seconds to cross Earth's orbit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_R%C3%B8mer Many satellites have polar orbits - for example the Iridiums. Check out Iridium flares - they are fun to photograph and watch. Also there are quite a few of the Cosmos rocket bodies on nearly polar orbits. You could try tracking them and calculating their orbits. On solar observing I've never gone beyond the simple situation with using a dark filter and seeing the sunspots. Of course counting them and tracking their motion across the solar disk is interesting. The sun's differential rotation (it doesn't rotate as a solid) is quite interesting. And this differential leads to the 11 year cycle in sunspot counts. I think a PST is a cool approach to solar observing. They tend to be small, portable and not terribly expensive. Apparantly using a filter for Calcium instead of Hydrogen lets you look a little deeper into the sun. The hydrogen alpha radiation is all from the surface and the calcium and potassium emissions are stronger below the surface. So these are ways to look at different solar structures. Clay Here is a review on a PST. I like the cloudy nights site. http://www.cloudynights.com/documents/pst.pdf
Reply by ●August 12, 20082008-08-12
On 12 Aug, 17:16, c...@claysturner.com wrote:> On Aug 12, 10:09�am, Rune Allnor <all...@tele.ntnu.no> wrote:...> > In winter time the Aurora often 'destroys' viewing in the > > nights that are *both* cloudless and no moon (all five of > > them), so satellites is one of few treats in the time that > > is left. It seems that lots of satellites are in low polar > > orbits; it is not unusual to see a few per night....> Rune, > > Since I've never personally seen the Aurora, I've never thought about > their being a hinderence to viewing.If you ever get to see the *really* spectacular Aurora, that will be a show you will never forget. I were travelling in the far north during the previous sunspot maximum around 2000, and got to see some stuff that can only be compared to the neon signd in one of the big cities. But we were at one of the remote, almost uninhabited islands far out to sea. If you have the chance, go see it. But do time a trip correctly, during a sunspot maximum, and go somewhere inland, where the climate and weather is favorable for astronomy. ...> Many satellites have polar orbits - for example the Iridiums. Check > out Iridium flares - they are fun to photograph and watch.Iridium flares can be a bit spooky...> Also there > are quite a few of the Cosmos rocket bodies on nearly polar orbits. > You could try tracking them and calculating their orbits.There are too many satellites visible form here to have any chance to identify them, let alone track them. Not everything that is visible is listed, so one can get things wrong.> On solar observing I've never gone beyond the simple situation with > using a dark filter and seeing the sunspots.How do you do that? Of course, one needs filters, but do you see the sunspots with otherwise unaided eyes? Or do you use telescopes? The only time I saw sunspots was when I served with the AAA. In those days I used a (filtered) telescope of 10-15x magnification to spot incoming aircraft.> Of course counting them > and tracking their motion across the solar disk is interesting. The > sun's differential rotation (it doesn't rotate as a solid) is quite > interesting. And this differential leads to the 11 year cycle in > sunspot counts.During the solar eclipse a coupel of weeks ago I used some welder's filters to take images of the sun through binoculars. I couldn't see any sunspots in those images, but that *may* hav been caused by the manual focus of the binos and the autofocus of the camera not playing nicely together. Rune
Reply by ●August 12, 20082008-08-12
comments mixed in below> > If you ever get to see the *really* spectacular Aurora, that will > be a show you will never forget. I were travelling in the far north > during the previous sunspot maximum around 2000, and got to see > some stuff that can only be compared to the neon signd in one > of the big cities. But we were at one of the remote, almost > uninhabited islands far out to sea. > > If you have the chance, go see it. But do time a trip correctly, > during a sunspot maximum, and go somewhere inland, where the > climate and weather is favorable for astronomy.I'll have to plan a trip to Alaska with the sunspot cycle in mind. I've always wanted to visit Alaska anyway. This will be an additional reason.> > ... > > > Many satellites have polar orbits - for example the Iridiums. Check > > out Iridium flares - they are fun to photograph and watch. > > Iridium flares can be a bit spooky...But in a cool way.> > > Also there > > are quite a few of the Cosmos rocket bodies on nearly polar orbits. > > You could try tracking them and calculating their orbits. > > There are too many satellites visible form here to have any > chance to identify them, let alone track them. Not everything > that is visible is listed, so one can get things wrong.True this complicates things, but the drifting bodies have very precise periods. When I'm watching I have a gps showing the precise time and it still astonishes me to time the things to the nearest second! There are sites on the web that list a lot of satellites' orbital parameters and you can start there.> > > On solar observing I've never gone beyond the simple situation with > > using a dark filter and seeing the sunspots. > > How do you do that? Of course, one needs filters, but do you > see the sunspots with otherwise unaided eyes? Or do you use > telescopes? The only time I saw sunspots was when I served > with the AAA. In those days I used a (filtered) telescope > of 10-15x magnification to spot incoming aircraft.When I did this, I had a three inch telescope and the "sun" filter would screw into the rear of the eyepiece. With larger 'scopes, the danger lies in their being so much energy on the filter heating it up, that it may crack and if you are observing during this - blindness may result! But with my 10 inch scope I just project (using an eyepiece) the sun onto a white card. Typically I project the image where it is around 4 to 6 inches in diameter and the spots are quite visable. There are comercial filters that go in front of the scope that effectively reduce the light level down to a safe one. But I haven't invested in one of those. Although some are reasonably priced.> > > Of course counting them > > and tracking their motion across the solar disk is interesting. The > > sun's differential rotation (it doesn't rotate as a solid) is quite > > interesting. And this differential leads to the 11 year cycle in > > sunspot counts. > > During the solar eclipse a coupel of weeks ago I used some > welder's filters to take images of the sun through binoculars. > I couldn't see any sunspots in those images, but that *may* > hav been caused by the manual focus of the binos and the > autofocus of the camera not playing nicely together. > > RuneIt is cool you got to see the eclipse. I remember back during the 1980s we had an annular eclipse where the path of viewing the annulus was only 3 miles wide and I lived on the path at that time. I went home for lunch and saw the eclipse. So for a brief few seconds we had a neat eclipse. Here in the US we will get a good total solar eclipse across the country's midsection in something like 8 years from now. Clay
