Casual Astronomy, Spaceflight News and Lower California Weather
Meteor Shower August 10-15 (see comment 397)
Posted by: LowerCal, 8:05 PM GMT on July 03, 2012 +10
CURRENT MOON

moon phases

CURRENT PLANETS and brilliant stars in early July. Directions and times are for the northern subtropics and vary somewhat for other latitudes.
• Bright & golden Mercury is close to the western horizon at dusk, sets WNW after dark.
• Bright & orange Mars is SW at dusk, sets west near midnight.
• Bright & yellowish Saturn is SSW at dusk, sets west after midnight and is
accompanied very closely by the bright and blueish star Spica.
• Very brilliant off-white Jupiter rises ENE predawn, is low east late dawn.
• Extremely brilliant white Venus rises ENE predawn, is low east before sunrise and is
accompanied very closely by the bright and orange star Aldebaran.
• Brilliant & blueish star Sirius will rise before the Sun late July.
• Brilliant white star Canopus will peek above the horizon before the Sun around late August.


Scroll past the links below to find special events for current and future dates.
Scroll farther to find past events.

***** Links *****

Today - SpaceWeather.com
also EarthSky,
Astronomy Picture of the Day,
Lunar Photo of the Day,
365 Days of Astronomy
& Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
This Week - SkyandTelescope.com - This Week's Sky at a Glance
also SkyWeek | Sky and Telescope TV
& Jack Horkheimer - Star Gazer, Current Scripts
This Month - SkyandTelescope.com - Sky Tour Podcasts
also HubbleSite - Tonight's Sky: Your guide to constellations, deep sky objects, planets, and events
Anytime - Stellarium (free planetarium for your computer)
also Sky & Telescope Interactive Sky Chart (online planetarium)

Visible Satellites:
Simplest - Satellite Flybys by SpaceweatherPhone.com
More satellites and more info - Heavens-Above.com.

Launches:
Spaceflight Now - Worldwide Launch Schedule
also Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule
& Wallops Flight Facility Launch Webcast & Blog
Reentries - Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies - Upcoming & Recent Reentries

Live Aurora Cams:
Sodankyla, Finland,
Kiruna, Sweden,
Jokkmokk, Sweden (cam 4),
Jokkmokk, Sweden (cam 5),
Abisko, Sweden,
Reykiavik, Iceland,
Yellowknife, Canada (click on CONNECT AURORAMAX LIVE),
& Poker Flat, Alaska


Most events described below can be viewed with your eyes alone.
Occasionally simple binoculars will improve the view and that will be noted.

***** Current & Future Events *****

See the comments or the links above.


Events earlier than those listed below will be found in previous blog entries.

***** Past Events *****

Photo Op - Crescent & Morning "Stars"

Image created with Stellarium, a free download.

July 15 before Dawn
ENE before dawn the bright & orange star Aldebaran and the ">" shaped Hyades star cluster will be visible close to extremely brilliant white planet Venus. The tiny dipper shaped Pleiades star cluster will be visible well above very brilliant off-white Jupiter.

Even in the very bright dawn shortly before sunrise the thin crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter will still be visible.

(For earlier events see previous blog entries.)


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Categories:Astronomy Spaceflight
Updated: 7:24 PM GMT on May 11, 2013   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (398)
Photo Op July 15 (see blog entry)
Posted by: LowerCal, 10:40 PM GMT on February 26, 2012 +10
CURRENT MOONmoon phasesCURRENT PLANETS and brilliant stars in early July. Directions and times are for the northern subtropics and vary somewhat for other latitudes.• Bright & golden Mercury is close to the western horizon at dusk, sets WNW after dark.• Bright & orange Mars is SW at dusk, sets west near midnight.• Bright & yellowish Saturn is SSW at dusk, sets west after midnight and isaccompanied very closely by the bright and blueish star Spica.• Very bri...
 
 
Categories:Astronomy Spaceflight
Updated: 12:31 AM GMT on July 03, 2012   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (441)
Canaveral Launch Success! (see comment 649)
Posted by: LowerCal, 10:19 PM GMT on August 15, 2011 +11
On the east side of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) is a circular area of low clouds rotating counterclockwise. High clouds above it are moving clockwise. Deep convection is bursting near the center.UPDATE: A satellite loop of the system described is in comment 1. Similar systems continue to appear. Below I've added self updating satellite images and surface maps of the area.I'll add loops of similar systems that I see to the comments. Currently there are...
 
 
Categories:Astronomy Spaceflight Sea of Cortez Mesoscale Convective Vortex Earthquake
Updated: 2:21 AM GMT on February 25, 2012   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (660)
Sky&Telescope Sky Chart is Back! (see comment 225)
Posted by: LowerCal, 10:39 PM GMT on June 20, 2011 +4
CURRENT MOONmoon phasesScroll past the links below to find special events for current and future dates.Scroll farther to find past events.***** Links *****Today - SpaceWeather.comalso EarthSky,Astronomy Picture of the Day,Lunar Photo of the Day,365 Days of Astronomy& Bad Astronomy | Discover MagazineThis Week - SkyandTelescope.com - This Week's Sky at a Glancealso Jack Horkheimer - Star Gazer, Current ScriptsThis Month - SkyandTelescope.com - Sky Tour Podcasts also ...
 
 
Categories:Spaceflight Astronomy
Updated: 2:55 AM GMT on August 12, 2011   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (227)
Astronomy & Spaceflight
Posted by: LowerCal, 4:48 PM GMT on November 16, 2010 +6
CURRENT MOONmoon phases
 
 
Updated: 11:11 PM GMT on June 15, 2011   Permalink | A A A
View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (415)

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