Where's Saturn? Is that a UFO--or the ISS? What's the name of that
star? Get the answers from mySKY--a
fun new astronomy helper from Meade.
ASTEROID FLYBY:
Mark your calendar: On Jan. 29, 2008, one night before a Tunguska-class
(50m-wide) asteroid threatens to strike
Mars, an even larger asteroid will fly past our own planet.
At closest approach, 2007 TU24 will be 1.4 lunar distances from
Earth. There's no danger of a collision, but the 400m-wide space
rock will be close enough to phtograph through backyard telescopes
as it speeds through the constellation Cassiopeia glowing like a
10th magnitude star. [ephemeris]
[orbit]
CHRISTMAS PROMS:
"The promenences on the sun's limb today have a real Christmas
feel to them!" reports Greg Piepol of Rockville, Maryland.
Here is the view through his Coronado SolarMax
90:
Solar prominences are clouds of hydrogen twisted and held aloft
by solar magnetic fields. They're common enough, but how often do
they twist into the shape of reindeer? It must be Christmas... "Have
a great holiday!" says Piepol.
more images: from
Franck Charlier of Marines, Val d'Oise, France.
MOON AND MARS:
Last night, sky watchers around
the world witnessed a meeting of the full Moon and Mars. "The
wind was blowing hard, it was freezing cold, and clouds moved in
and out of view, but the beautiful Moon-Mars duo made it all worthwhile,"
says Rachel Bowerman
who took this picture from Gomer, Ohio:
Click
to view a world map of Moon-Mars photos
In central Europe the Moon passed directly in front of Mars. "It
was a real eclipse," says Hanno Falk of Flensburg, Germany.
"The weather was not cooperative, but I shot a lot of pictures
and combined them to make a
video." Just outside the path of totality, Martin Wagner
of Sonnenbuehl-Genkingen, Germany, caught Mars apparently floating
above a field of lunar craters: image.
The Moon and Mars are separating now, but they'll still be close
enough together to produce a pleasing Christmas
Eve sky show. Don't miss it!
more images: from
Kay Meyer of Glendale, CA; from
Edgar in Union Square, San Francisco, CA; from
Peter Heinzen of Raron, Swiss Alps, Switzerland; from
David Harvey of Tucson, Arizona; from
Ugur Ikizler of Mudanya - Bursa / Turkey; from
JP Slavinsky of Reno, Nevada.
Comet
8P/Tuttle Photo Gallery
[World
Map of Comet Sightings]
[sky
map] [comet
cameras] [ephemeris]
[orbit]
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