CentaurZ

The annual Geminid Meteor Shower may already be underway. It is expected to peak during the night of 2019 DEC 13-14. Its radiant is in the constellation Gemini. That is the direction toward which the meteor tails point, but the meteors are equally likely to appear anywhere in your sky. The Geminids are debris from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon.

The Geminids have been presenting an increasingly intense shower in recent years. At the peak between 120 and 160 meteors per hour may be seen by some sharp-eyed folks. The show begins after Gemini rises in the early evening and intensifies until morning twilight. Although observers south of the tropics will have to wait until midnight. The waning gibbous Moon during the shower’s peak this year may present some interference.

Descriptions of the shower or perhaps even lucky photos would be welcome additions to this thread.

On 05/12/2019 at 02:43, Raph-in-the-sky said:

Thanks! That was a great explanation! I knew the jist of it but I was missing a time frame.

One more question... When does Venus become decently observable in its cycle coming from supperior conjonction? If I understand correcly the planet is observable in the evening about 6 month before inferior conjonction, becomes unobservable for a short time (how long?) close to inferior conjonction and then becomes observable again for about 6 month in the early morning... Am I getting this right?

You're welcome. You are essentially correct. There is a roughly 5-month period centered on Superior Conjunction during which it is difficult or impossible to observe Venus. In the case of Inferior Conjunction that can be just a few days. In fact if Venus passes far north of the Sun during Inferior Conjunction, those of us north of the tropics may be able to view Venus as both an evening star and a morning star on the same date. After all of this has been said, keep in mind that Venus is observable by naked eye in the daytime, if one knows exactly where to look. 😎

2 hours ago, Raph-in-the-sky said:

Hello,

I struggle a bit to understand when I am supposed to look for inferior planets. Could you please help me with this?

Is Venus going to be observable during the whole spring, every day? Evening or morning viewing? When will the disc be the widest (viewed from earth obviously)? 

Cheers,

Raph

An inferior planet (Mercury or Venus) alternates as an evening or morning star, i.e. visible shortly after sunset or before dawn.

The entire synodic cycle for Venus is 19.2 months, half in the evening and half in the morning. For Mercury a synodic cycle averages 3.8 months. A synodic cycle is the time it takes for one planet to lap another in their race around the Sun.

Venus will indeed be visible in the western sky during the early evening from now through May, as illustrated in my chart above. Its angular diameter is widest during inferior conjunction with the Sun, but at that time it cannot be observed.

Below is another chart I created that may clarify the matter for you.

On 23/11/2019 at 12:42, Sunshine said:

Beautiful observatory, it would be a shame to let it deteriorate, these are testaments to our yearning to understand our place.

Indeed. Meanwhile the article doesn't show the architecture in detail other than a single gargoyle. The entire facade is an assemblage of bas-reliefs from classical mythology. The lecture under the dome housing the large telescope may surprise you, as the floor and your chair rise to a level allowing an astronomer to peer through the eyepiece no matter how the telescope is oriented. There's a museum section with a great many fascinating artifacts, historical photographs and documents. After your visit, nice restaurants are situated along the shore of beautiful Geneva Lake. 😎

Brilliant Venus has commenced its apparition in the western sky after sunset following its superior conjunction behind the Sun on 2019 AUG 12. It will become its highest and brightest during the upcoming spring.

Photos and descriptions of Venus during this apparition would be welcome additions to this thread.

It’s nearly time for my monthly New Moon spotting challenge. I use the term New Moon in its classical sense of one’s first sighting of the Moon after its monthly solar conjunction (Dark Moon). Sharp-eyed observers may attempt to spot the more than one-day-old Moon after sunset on November 27^th, with bright Venus and Jupiter serving as guides.

Photos and descriptions of the young crescent Moon late this month would be welcome additions to this thread.

4 minutes ago, John said:

Having visited the Lowell Observatory at Flagstaff a few months ago I feel strongly that these are really important heritage sites that must be preserved so that they can inspire future generations.

Its good to see that the Yerkes Future Foundation have made progress in securing the future of the observatory and some of the instruments in it. I for one would love to visit the place if and when I'm in that part of the USA.

Thanks for posting the link

You're welcome. I live in northeastern Illinois (Chicagoland), which is near Yerkes. My last visit was in June of 2018, four months before it closed. Indeed, it is great to learn that it may reopen. If you do ever visit Chicago or Milwaukee, I highly recommend making the trip to a guided tour of Yerkes Observatory. 😎

The Yerkes Observatory is in southern Wisconsin (USA) just north of the border with Illinois and Chicagoland. When it was opened in 1897 by the University of Chicago, it housed the world's largest telescope. Guided tours ended in 2018, but may resume soon.

Sky & Telescope - Yerkes

Elusive Mercury has commenced its apparition in the predawn eastern sky following its inferior conjunction (including transit) between Earth and Sun on 2019 NOV 11. This is an especially favorable apparition for all observers other than those south of the tropics.

Photos and descriptions of Mercury during this apparition would be welcome additions to this thread.

HuffPost: Light Pollution

The annual Leonid Meteor Shower should already be underway. It is expected to peak during the night of 2019 NOV 17-18. Its radiant is in the constellation Leo. That is the direction toward which the meteor tails point, but the meteors are equally likely to appear anywhere in your sky. The Leonids are debris from the periodic comet 55P Tempel-Tuttle.

The Leonids vary considerably each year in their rates. At the peak, sharp-eyed observers may see as few as ten meteors per hour or as many as a hundred, although in exceptional years this can reach the thousands. This year the expectation is for around 15 to 20 per hour.

The real show begins after Leo rises around midnight and intensifies until morning twilight. At the shower’s peak the waning gibbous Moon may present some interference.

Descriptions of the shower or perhaps even lucky photos would be welcome additions to this thread.

From the thread initiator, thanks to all who participated, especially those with photographs. However, here in Chicagoland, all we could see in the cloudy sky was snowflakes and flocks of migrating geese. Nevertheless, we did get to observe the more widely anticipated 2004 and 2012 Venus transits, which I first learned to expect from a book in 1959. The next Venus transits will be in 2117 and 2125.

What always amazes me is that we can predict the positions of gigantic and speedy planets with great accuracy millennia in advance, yet next week's local weather forecast remains rather hazy. Thanks to all here who proved my transit prediction to be quite accurate.

As moderator Stu once suggested for similar situations, I started this thread in this heads-up forum and a nearly identical one in a more specific forum for replies, in this case Observing-Planetary.  I did suggest in my initial post here that replies be directed to the other forum, but things got out of hand and far more were posted here. 

The next Mercury transit will be in 2032, but for those of us here in the US the next is 2049. I was born in 1945, so I'll just have to keep eating my Wheaties to remain sharp for the latter one.

For those of you who miss the transit due to inclement weather on Monday, I've assembled this short list of alternative dates for you. 😎

For those of you who miss the transit due to inclement weather on Monday, I've assembled this short list of alternative dates for you. 😎

I've created Mercury transit charts for observers at 22 different locations. Since many members of this message board are British, I'm posting my London transit chart below.

I've created Mercury transit charts for observers at 22 different locations. Since many members of this message board are British, I'm posting my London transit chart below.

Here's my chart showing who's in and who's out for this event. 😎

The brightest asteroid 4 Vesta is the only one occasionally visible by naked eye. It will appear in opposition to the Sun on 2019 NOV 12 at the confluence of the constellations Cetus, Taurus and Aries. At magnitude +6.5 it might be detected by sharp eyes under dark skies.

Photos and descriptions of Vesta would be welcome additions to this thread.

It’s nearly time for my monthly New Moon spotting challenge. I use the term New Moon in its classical sense of one’s first sighting of the Moon after its monthly solar conjunction (Dark Moon). Sharp-eyed observers may attempt to spot the nearly one-day-old Moon after sunset on October 28^th.

Photos and descriptions of the young crescent Moon late this month would be welcome additions to this thread.

Uranus will appear in opposition to the Sun during the night of 2019 OCT 27-28. At magnitude +5.7 it may be visible to sharp naked eyes under dark skies, especially during what will be the time surrounding the Dark Moon.

It has always amazed me that Uranus was not discovered until William Herschel pointed a telescope at it in 1781. I would imagine that countless people observed it by naked eye before then, but assumed it was a fixed star and never noticed that over a period of time it changed position relative to the actual fixed stars. I first observed it by naked eye nearly fifty years ago, but of course I knew that it existed and exactly where to look.

Photos and descriptions of Uranus would be welcome additions to this thread.

The shadows of the Galilean satellites #1 Io and #2 Europa will be simultaneously transiting Jupiter during the evening of Sunday 2019 OCT 20. Io and Europa will also be transiting

Photos and descriptions of the transits would be welcome additions to this thread.

Here's my chart showing who's in and who's out for this event. 😎 

The annual Orionid Meteor Shower may already be underway. It is expected to peak during the night of 2019 OCT 21-22. Its radiant is in the constellation Orion. That is the direction toward which the meteor tails point, but the meteors are equally likely to appear anywhere in your sky. The Orionids are debris from the famous periodic comet 1P/Halley.

At the peak between 10 and 70 meteors per hour may be seen by some sharp eyed folks. The show begins after Orion rises in the late evening and intensifies until morning twilight. Since Orion lies on the celestial equator, the shower is easily observed from all geographic latitudes. The waning Half Moon during the shower peak this year may provide only a modest amount of interference.

Descriptions of the shower or perhaps even lucky photos would be welcome additions to this thread.

And here's my array graphic for the Galilean satellites tonight.

Here's my timetable for tonight's Galilean satellite events.