Vern’s Weblog

3 Juno is among the largest asteroids (tenth in size) at 149 miles in diameter (240 km). It orbits the Sun in about 4.36 years and is currently about 2.3985 AU distant from Earth. According to the ephemeris its current brightness is 10.4.

Images are from last evening, May 17 about 20 minutes before midnight and another 18 minutes after. Telescope was a Celestron Nexstar11 with F3.3 focal reducer. A Stellacam II video camera used for capture at 128 integration (4 sec), medium gamma setting, and 9/14 gain. Sky was mostly cloudless, 0-5 mph wind, temperature 53°F, transparency was good though some haze was apparent, and turbulence 5/10. Location was light polluted Louisville, CO.

Messier 97, the “Owl Nebula” is in constellation Ursa Major

A Stellacam II video camera used for capture at 128 integration (4 sec), medium gamma setting, and 9/14 gain. Sky was mostly cloudless, 0-5 mph wind, temperature 53°F, transparency was good though some haze was apparent, and turbulence 5/10. Location was light polluted Louisville, CO.

Region 10956 is about midway between the east limb (left) and center of the disk. It had a series of B-class, and a couple C-class flares earlier today. NOAA has changed the magnetic classification to beta-gamma-delta, the most dangerous type. M-class flares are expected. Also it has grown by 69% in the last 24 hours. See http://www.raben.com/maps/EarthSideSolarRegions.html for a table showing changes.

Image acquired at 11:50 am MDT with SolarScope LTD 50mm halpha telescope, Televue 2.5X Powermate, and Canon Xti (1/500 sec at ISO 100 for disk, 1/400 sec at ISO 800 for prominences). Aligned and stacked with Registax4, composited and enhanced with Photoshop. Sky was mostly clear, thin haze, temperate 70°F, no wind, and 5/10 turbulence, location Louisville, CO.

Image of the sun in white light at 1:00 pm MDT with Stellarvue A1010 telescope, Baader filter, and Canon Xti camera (ISO 100, 1/400 sec exposure). Aligned and stacked with Registax4.

The following is a list of some interesting things to check out in the sky during this week, May 13 thru May 19, 2007. Some of the events and times given are specific to the Colorado front range (40° N and the MDT timezone).

International Space Station

There are three ISS passes this week, but you’ll have to get up early to see them. The brightest one (magnitude -0.2) is Saturday morning, May 19 at 04:23:06 am. The ISS rises in the SSW in constellation Sagitarius, passes through constellation Pegasus and then disappears in the ENE at 04:27:08.

Sun

The sun rises 5:49 to 5:44 am MDT this week and sets 8:08 to 8:14 pm MDT. Region 10955 is currently between the center of the disk and the west limb (right) and slightly below center (see http://raben.com/maps ). The region has decreased in area from 250 to 90 milli-hemispheres in area over the past 3 days. If it doesn’t dissipate first it will rotate out of our view Thursday evening. Solar activity is expected to remain at very low levels again this week.

Moon

New moon is this Wed, May 16 at 13:27 MDT.

Thurs. and Fri. take a look for the thin crescent Moon low in the west. Its a good time to look for the “Old Moon in New Moon’s Arms” or Earthshine. Earthshine is light from Earth reflected back to us from the Moon’s night side.

Sat. May 18 the moon is about a degree above Venus so it should be a pretty scene. The terminator will be to the west (left) of Mare Crisium Saturday so it will be a good time to check it out.
The the lunar craters Cleomedes, Endymon, Langrenus, and Petavius will be well-lit for viewing as well.

Planets

Mercury is constellation Taurus at magnitude -0.7 in the WNW this week. It sets 9:12 to 9:47 pm this week. Look for it around 8:40 pm to 9 pm.

Venus is constellation Gemini. It is still a brilliant magnitude -4.2 high up in the western sky. It appears in a telescope as small crescent quarter moon.

Saturn is in constellation Leo and is magnitude +0.9. It is still high up in the SSW in the early evening and will be visible until July.

Jupiter is in constellation Ophiuchus and -2.6 magnitude in brightness. It rises 10:02 pm to 9:35 PM this week. The great red spot (GRS) crosses the center of Jupiter at the following times this week:
Mon. May 14 at 02:17 am
Wed. May 16 at 03:55 am
Wed. May 16 at 11:47 pm
Fri. May 18 at 05:33 am
Sat. May 19 at 01:24 am
The GRS is visible about an hour before and after the central meridian transit.

Pluto is near the northern border of constellation Sagittarius. It is currently magnitude +14.

Neptune is in constellation Capricornius is +8 in magnitude.

Uranus is constellation Aquarius and is +6 in magnitude.

Mars is in constellation Pisces and is magnitude 0.9 in brightness and is 5.5 arc-sec across

Comets

C/2007 E2 Lovejoy is high up north in the constellation Draco, just south of the bowl of the little dipper. It has dimmed to magnitude 10.5 and from ephemeris the coma is predicted to have a 3.5 arc-min wide coma.

Asteroids

There are 8 asteroids that can be seen in small scopes this week:
7 Iris is constellation Gemini and is magnitude +10.4
20 Massalia is in constellation Cancer and is magnitude +10.9
23 Thalia is in constellation Leo and is magnitude +10.9
3 Juno is in constellation Virgo and is magnitude +10.3
21 Lutetia is in constellation Ophiuchus and is magnitude +10.4
4 Vesta is in constellation Ophiuchus and is magnitude +5.66
9 Metis is in constellation Sagitarius and is magnitude +10.5
2 Pallus is in constellation Pegasus and is magnitude +10.4

Deep Sky

Since the new moon occurs mid-week we get yet another weekend of dark skies. The 3 day old moon will interfer Saturday evening until it sets at 11:55 pm. I’d guess that it will be low enough that it probably won’t be much of a problem after 11pm.

Galaxies
There are hundreds of galaxies visible in backyard scopes this time of year. Some of the best are
M81, M82, and M101 in Ursa Major
M51 the Whirlpool in Canes Venatici
The Black Eye Galaxy, M64, in Coma Berenices
M104 the Sombrero Galaxy in Virgo

Globular Clusters
M3 in Canes Venatici
Messier 53 in Coma Berenices
Challenge globular NGC 5053 is also in Coma Berenices about 1 degree south of M53
M13 in Hercules

Planetary Nebula
M97 the Owl nebula in Ursa Major
NGC 4361 in Corvus
M57 the ring nebula in Lyra
The space turtle, NGC 6210 in Hercules

Bright Supernova
Supernova 2007bm was magnitude +14.4 when it was found about a month ago 2 arc sec west and 11 arc sec south of the center of galaxy NGC 3672 in constellation Hydra. It brightened to +14.2 and is now getting dimmer. See http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/ for details.

The following is a list of some interesting things to check out in the sky during this week, May 6 thru May 12, 2007. Some of the events and times given are specific to the Colorado front range (40° N and the MDT timezone).

International Space Station

There are no visible passes this week.

Sun

The Sun rises at 5:57 am to 5:49 am this week and sets 8:01 pm to 8:08 pm MDT.

Currently visible is active region 10953 which is 260 millionths hemisphere (791 million square kilometers) in area. It is now approaching the Sun’s western limb and will rotate from our view Monday evening. Solar activity is expected to remain at very low levels this week. Note that the NOAA National Weather Service Space Environment Center now has an easier to remember URL http://www.spaceweather.gov, so check there for more information on solar activity.

Moon

The moon is in 3rd quarter on Wed., May 9th at 10:27 pm. New moon is on May 16 at 13:27 MDT.

Planets

After Wednesday you may be able to spot Mercury low in the western sky in constellation Taurus. It will be -0.5 magnitude. Mercury will appear in a telescope as a very small crescent moon about 3 or 4 days past first quarter.

Venus moves from constellation Taurus into constellation Gemini. It is still a brilliant magnitude -4.2 high up in the western sky. It appears in a telescope as small crescent moon a day or two past first quarter.

Saturn is in constellation Leo and is magnitude +0.4. It is still high up in the SSW in the early evening and will be visible until July.

Jupiter is in constellation Ophiuchus and -2.5 magnitude in brightness. It rises 10:33 pm to 10:03 PM this week. The great red spot (GRS) crosses the center of Jupiter at the following times this week:

Sun May 6 at 5:41 am
Mon May 7 at 1:32 am
Wed May 9 at 3:10 am
Wed May 9 at 11:02 pm
Fri May 11 at 4:48 am
Sat May 12 at 0:39 am

The GRS is visible about an hour before and after the central meridian transit.

Pluto is near the northern border of constellation Sagittarius. It is currently magnitude +14.

Uranus and Neptune are in constellation Aquarius. Uranus is +6 in magnitude, and Neptune is +8.

Mars is in constellation Pisces and is magnitude +1 in brightness and is 5 arc-sec across.

Comets

The best comet to view this week is C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy). Early in the week it is in constellation Draco and is in good position for viewing around 10 pm. It should dim from magnitude +9.3 to +10.2 this week and have a 5.2 arc-min wide coma.

See image of comet Lovejoy from last Sunday at http://www.raben.com/weblog/2007/04/30

C/2007 E1 (Garradd) is constellation Gemini. It should be about magnitude +11.8 and have a 3.3 arc-min wide coma. (I’ve tried twice but have been unsuccessfully finding this one thus far).

If you stay up until about 4 am, look for 96P Machholz. It moves westward in constellation Pegasus this week. It is projected to dim from magnitude +11.9 to +12.8 . An image of it from last Monday morning is on my blog at http://raben.com/weblog/2007/04/30

Asteroids

There are currently 8 asteroids to view that are brighter than magnitude 11.

The brightest, Vesta (magnitude +5.75), is in constellation Ophiuchus. Early in the week it is about 9 degrees north of Jupiter. See finder chart at http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/feature_stories/images/Vesta_May_300.jpg The NASA DAWN mission is planned for launch on June 30 and will visit Vesta in Oct. 2011. After exploring Vesta for 6 months, the ion propelled spacecraft will then journey to the dwarf planet Ceres and arrive there in 2015. For more information visit http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/index.asp

Also in constellation Ophiuchus is asteroid 20 Massalia which is magnitude 10.9.

2 Pallus is constellation Aquarius is magnitude 10.5.

3 Juno is magnitude 10.3 and 23 Thalia is magnitude 10.8 . Both are in constellation Virgo.

7 Iris is constellation Gemini and is magnitude 10.3.

9 Metis is constellation Sagitaris and is magnitude 10.6.

21 Lutetia is constellation Scorpius and is magnitude 10.5.

Meteor Showers

The Eta Aquarids peaks this Sunday, May 6, and will continue through May 12. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower occurs when the Earth crosses debris from Halley’s comet. Unfortunately, moonlight will obscure all but the brightest meteors this year. The best time to see them is between 2 to 5 am in the southeastern sky. Around 5 can be seen per hour in the northern hemisphere and two or three times as many in the southern hemisphere. When the Eta Aquarid radiant is low in the sky between 2 and 2:30 am, the meteors strike the upper atmosphere and appear as long streaks in the sky lasting up to 5 seconds.

A bright fireball probably from the Eta Aquarids was reported about 5 am last Friday morning in Colorado. See http://www.cloudbait.com/science/fireball20070504.html

Deep Sky

The upcoming weekend of May 11-12 will an excellent time to observe faint deep sky objects (weather permitting of course!). The moon doesn’t rise until 3:15 am on Saturday morning and 3:40 am on Sunday morning so it is the longest dark sky weekend this month. Next weekend will be good too, although the moon won’t set until 11:55 pm on Saturday.

Galaxies

There are lots of great galaxies to see around 10 pm such as the “Black-eye galaxy” M64 in Coma Berenices and the “Sombrero galaxy” M104 in Virgo. (Not to mention around 200 others just in constellation Virgo that brighter than magnitude 12). Uncomfortably high overhead for most scopes, but certainly worth the effort are “Bode’s Nebula” M81, edge on galaxy M82, the “Whirlpool galaxy” M51, and the “Pinwheel” M101 in Ursa Major.

Not far from the Whirlpool is the Hickson 68 galaxy quintet (NGC 5353, 5354, 5355, 5358 and 5350 ). You’ll need a 10 inch scope or larger to see all 5.

Globulars

The stars in globular clusters are believed to be among the oldest in our galaxy at about 9-10 billion years. The following are a just a few of those currently visible.

Messier 3 in Canes Venatici is one of the three brightest globular clusters visible to us in the northern hemisphere.

NGC 5466 in Bootes is an example of a very loose cluster (class 12)

M53 in Coma Berenices is a bright, moderately concentrated globular (class 5) with concentrated 1.5 arc-minute wide core.

About a degree to southeast of M53 is a far less impressive globular, NGC 5053, which appears more like an open cluster than a globular.

After 11pm or so, I’m sure we’ll all manage to pay a visit to to spectacular M13 in Hercules. Messier 13 is the brightest globular visible in the northern hemisphere and may be viewed naked eye in dark skies.

Planetary Nebula

M97 the Owl Nebula is a good object to view in transparent, dark skies with a large scope. Use an O3 or UHC filter to increase contrast.

NGC 3132, the “Eight Burst Nebula” or the “Southern Ring”, is very low near the southern horizon in constellation Vela. It is about magnitude 8 in brightness, nearly the same size as Jupiter, and has a prominent central star.