raben.com

The following are a few astronomical objects to check out in the sky, this week January 3 to January 10, 2009.

International Space Station

For those of us in the Denver area:
Mon. Jan. 5 at 6:38 am the ISS appears in the WNW and disappears at 6:43 am in the SSE (magnitude -1.6).
Tues. Jan 6 at 5:32 am the ISS appears in the ENE and disappears at 5:34 am in the ESE (magnitude -1.6).
Wed. Jan. 7 at 5:58 am the ISS appears in WSW and disappears at 6:01 am in the SSE (magnitude -1.4).

Sun

On Sun. Jan. 4 sunrise is at 7:25 am and sunset is at 4:51 pm MST.

On Sat. Jan 10 sunrise is at 7:24 am and sunset is at 4:57 pm MST.

There are no active regions visible on the solar disk as of Sunday evening.
For more information about the sun and space weather see www.swpc.noaa.gov

Moon

On Sun. Jan 4, the moon is at first quarter at 4:56 am MST.

On Sat. Jan. 10, the moon is full at 8:27 pm MST.

Planets

You can view planets Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, and Uranus in the southwest after the sun sets.

Saturn rises at 10:18 pm on Sunday and 9:54 pm by Saturday. Look for Saturn in the eastern sky in the constellation Leo. Saturn's rings are tilted less than a degree at the present time. This is the best view of Saturn's rings edge on until 2038.

Dark Sky

Not much this week.

Correction - astronomical darkness on Jan 3 ends at 5:45 am, not 6:30 am as stated in video. Best time to watch Quadrantids meteor shower would be that last hour, 4:45 to 5:45

Also available at iTunes or you may download it in windows media HD 720p format (221 mega bytes)

Sun

On Sunday Dec. 28 sunrise is at 7:24 am and sunset is at 4:45 pm MST)

On Saturday Jan. 3 sunrise is at 7:25 am and sunset is at 4:50 pm MST.

There are no active regions currently visible on the solar disk as of Sunday evening.

Moon

On Sunday Dec 28 the moon is at lunation 1.5

On Saturday Jan 3 the moon is at lunation 7.5

Planets

Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus are visible in the southwest after about 5:20 pm.

Saturn rises at 10:46 pm Sunday and 10:22 pm by Saturday. This is the best time to get an edge-on view of the rings this year. The rings are tilted less than a degree to us at the present time. Although minimum tilt is in the fall, Saturn will be very low in the west.

Dark Sky

Moon interfers with early evening dark sky views by this weekend.

Meteor Showers

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower (aka Bootids) peaks on Saturday morning, Jan 3rd around 6 am, MST. Astronomical darkness lasts till 6:30 am that morning so circumstances are good for those of us in Denver and other locations in the western United States. If you are far away from the haze of city lights, you may see around 50 Quadrantid meteors per hour from 4:45 to 5:45 am. If you can not get away from city lights you will see only a few of the brighter ones. The meteors will appear to come from Quandrantid's radiant which will be very high up in the northeast. The radiant is in the north central portion of constellation Bootes or roughly midway between the end of the Big Dipper's handle and the western side of the keystone of Hercules. An additional 15 sporadic meteors per hour (those not associated with any radiant) may be seen during that time period as well. For more information about meteors, see http://www.amsmeteors.org/lunsford/

International Space Station

On Thurs. Jan 1st at 6:26 am the ISS appears in the NNW and disappears at 6:31 am in the ENE (magnitude -0.2

On Fri. Jan 2nd at 6:53 am the ISS appears in the NW and disappears at 6:58 am in ESE (magnitude -1.5, difficult though as the sky will be fairly bright))

On Sat. Jan 3rd at 5:46 am the ISS appears in the North and disappears at 5:49 am in the ENE (magnitude -0.2)

On Sun. Jan 4 at 6:12 am the ISS appears in the NW and disappears iat 6:16 am in the ESE (magnitude -1.7)

Also available at iTunes or you may download it in windows media HD 720p format (221 mega bytes)

The following are a few astronomical objects to check out in the sky this week, Dec. 21 to Dec. 27, 2008.

International Space Station

For those of us in the Denver area, the best passes this week are:

Monday Dec. 22 at 6:41 am the ISS appears in the WNW and disappears at 6:46 in the NNE (magnitude -0.6)

Tuesday Dec. 23 at 5:36 am the ISS appears in the NNE and disappears at 5:38 in the NE (magnitude -0.6)

Wednesday Dec. 24 at 6:03 am the ISS appears in the NNW and disappears at 6:04 am in the NNE (magnitude -0.4)

Sun

Sunday Dec. 21 sunrise is at 7:21 am and sunset is at 4:41 pm

Saturday Dec. 27 sunrise is at 7:24 am and sunset is at 4:45 pm MST

There are no active regions visible on the solar disk as of Monday morning.

Moon

On Sunday morning at moonrise the moon is at lunation 23.7

It is new on Saturday at 5:22 am MST

Planets

Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus are visible in the southwest after sunset.

Saturn rises at 11:54 pm on Sunday and 11:30 pm by Saturday. Its rings are now tilted only about one degree. They start opening up some in January and be edge on again in September.

Dark Sky

This is the longest dark sky weekend of the year, with 12 hours and 34 minutes of astronomical darkness on Saturday.

It is an excellent time to explore some deep sky objects in constellation Orion. Take a look directly south around 10 pm about half way up in the sky and locate "Orion, the Hunter". Look for three bright, second magnitude stars in nearly a straight line running from the southeast to the northwest. These stars form Orions Belt. To the upper left is the reddish 0.5 magnitude star Betelegeuse. Toward the upper right is the 1.6 magnitude bluish star Bellatrix. Below are two other bright stars, 2nd magnitude "Saiph" on the left and magnitude 0, "Rigel" on the right. Use binoculars and center on the middle belt star called "Alnilam". Surrounding it is a magnificent sprinkling of about a hundred stars from 5th to 10th magnitude in a 3 degree wide field called "Collinder 70".

Drop southward from the middle star and locate Orion's sword. This region is the location of one one of the night skys most splendid show pieces, the Great Orion Nebula. This is one of everyone's favorite objects to view in a telescope of any size. In the center of the region are four bright stars forming a diamond shaped asterism called the "trapezium". In steady skies a couple additional 10th magnitude stars may be seen. Just above M42 is another diffuse nebula, "Messier 43" which surrounds an irregular variable star "NU Orionis". If you are fortunate have dark, transparent skies, continue exploring another 30' north and view some of the faint nebulous swirls of NGC 1973-1975-1977. This region is a continuation of the same large cloud of dust surrounding the Orion nebula. If conditions are really good, point your scope toward the left most star in Orion's belt, "Alnitak". Move north and east until Alnitak is just out of field and view the NGC 2024, the "burning bush" or "flame nebula". If you center on Alnitak and then slew straight south, you may be able to see the elusive "horse head" nebula, IC434 or Bernard 33. The horse head is very difficult to see unless conditions are nearly perfect. Use a UHC or OIII filter to bring out its dark outline.

Comets

Comet 85P Boethin is visible in the constellation Pisces. Look for as soon as its dark just before 6 pm. It is magnitude 7.1 in brightness and should be visible in binoculars and scopes of all sizes.

C/2008 A1 McNaught is still visible at magnitude 9.6 in constellation Hercurles. Look for it in early evening as soon as its dark.

C/2006 W3 Christensen is in the constellation Cynus. Look for it in the early evenings as soon as its is dark as well. It is magnitude 10.1.

144P Kushida is in the constellation Aries. It magnitude 10.7 in brightness. Best time to view is around 9:25 pm.

C/2006 OF2 Broughton is in constellation Lynx. It is magnitude 10.9. Best time to view is 12:30 am.

C/2007 N3 Lulin appears before sunrise low in the southwest in constellation Scorpius. It is magnitude 7.1 so it should be visible in binoculars.

Also available at iTunes or you may download it in windows media HD 720p format (190 mega bytes)

International Space Station

The ISS is visible in the morning sky this week. On Thurs. Dec 18 it appears at 6:28 am in the SSW and disappears in the ENE (magnitude -0.7)
On Fri. Dec. 19 it appears at 6:54 am in the WSW and disappears at 7:00 am in the NE (magnitude -2.2)
On Sat. Dec 20 the ISS appears at 5:46 am in the SSW and disappears at 5:51 am in the ENE (magnitude -1.3)
On Sunday Dec. 21 the ISS appears at 6:13 am in the East and disappears at 6:18 am in the NE. (magnitude -2)

Sun

On Sun. Dec. 14 sunrise is at 7:17 am and sunset is at 4:38 pm MST
On Sat Dec. 20 sunrise is at 7:21 and sunset is at 4:41 pm MST
There are no active regions visible on the solar disk as of this Sunday evening.

Moon

On Sunday Dec. 14 the moon is at lunation 17.4
It is at 3rd quarter on Fri. Dec. 19th at 3:29 am MST
On Saturday, Dec. 20 at moonrise, the moon is at lunation 22.6

Planets

Jupiter is visible low in the southwest and becomes visible about a half hour after sunset. It is -2 magnitude in brightness.

Venus is visible soon after sunset in the south-southwest. It very bright at magnitude -4.

Saturn rises 11:40 pm on Sunday and 11:17 pm by Saturday. It is magnitude +1 in brightness.

Comets

Look for comet 85P Boethin in the early evenings as soon as the sky becomes dark in the constellation Pisces. It is magnitude 7.1 in brightness and should be visible in binoculars and scopes of all sizes.

C/2008 A1 McNaught is still visible at magnitude 9.6 in constellation Hercurles. Look for it in early evening as soon as its dark.

C/2006 W3 Christensen is in the constellation Cynus. Look for it in the early evenings as soon as its is dark as well. It is magnitude 10.1.

144P Kushida is in the constellation Aries. It magnitude 10.7 in brightness. Best time to view is around 9:25 pm.

C/2006 OF2 Broughton is in constellation Lynx. It is magnitude 10.9. Best time to view is 12:30 am.

C/2007 N3 Lulin appears before sunrise low in the southwest in constellation Scorpius. It is magnitude 7.1 so it should be visible in binoculars.

Dark Sky Objects

Venture outside this weekend if the sky is clear. If you are in a dark place, away from city lights, you'll be delighted by the many bright stars visible in the winter sky. Around 9 pm, constellation Perseus is almost straight south. The 'V' forming the face of Taurus the Bull is below and slightly to the east. Get out your binoculars and take look at the Pleades. If transparency is very good you may see some bluish nebulocity around its brighter stars. To the east of Perseus is the unmistakable 'house' outline of Auriga. Gemini the twins is high up in the East-Northeast. Below Gemini is the very noticable three bright stars forming Orion's belts. We'll explore several of Orion's wonders next week. The brightest star in the sky, Sirius, may be seen twinkling low in the southwest.

Also available at subscribe at iTunes or download it in windows media HD 720p format (197 mega bytes)

International Space Station

For those of us in the Denver area, the ISS is visible through Wednesday in the early evening.

On Mon. Dec 8 at 5:55 pm the ISS appears in the WNW and disappears at 6:01 pm in the SSE (magnitude -0.6)

On Tue. Dec 9 at 4:47 pm the ISS appears in the NW and disappears at 4:53 pm in the ESE (very bright at magnitude -2.4)
On Wed. Dec 10 at 5:14 pm the ISS appears in the WNW and disappears at 5:17 pm in the SSE (magnitude 0.0)

If you don't live in the Denver area, see www.heavens-above.com for times that the ISS is visible over your location.

Moon

On Sunday evening, the moon is at lunation 10.4

It will be full on Fri. Dec 12 at 9:37 am.

On Saturday evening the moon is at lunation 16.4.

Sun

On Sunday Dec. 7 sunrise is at 7:12 am and sunset is at 4:38 pm.

On Saturday Dec. 13, sunrise is at 7:16 am and sunset is at 4:38 pm.

There are no active regions visible on the solar disk as of Sunday evening. For more information about the Sun and space weather, see www.swpc.noaa.gov

Planets

Look for Venus and Jupiter in the early evenings low in the SW. Venus is very bright at magnitude -4. Jupiter is located to the right (west) and is a less bright magnitude -2.

Saturn rises around 12:06 am as the week begins and 11:44 pm on Saturday. It in the constellation Leo and is magnitude +0.9 in brightness. Its rings are nearly edge now. Early Saturday morning, Saturn's moon Titan is about 5 diameter to the west, on Sunday morning less than 2 diameter to the west. Saturn

Dark Sky

Not much this week.