NASA’s Cassini orbiter snaps unbelievable picture of Saturn

 

Click to enlarge

Science fiction movies have spoiled us on high definition views of our planetary neighbors, but real-life photographs with equal jaw-dropping potential are exceedingly rare. That's what makes NASA's awe-inspiring snapshot of Saturn (hi-res version here) such a stunning piece of eye candy.

Taken by NASA's Cassini robotic orbiter, the shot was captured from the dark side of Saturn as the Sun's bright rays illuminated every piece of dust and debris circling the planet. Cassini has offered astronomers a never-before-seen look at Saturn and revealed more information about the planet than any craft before it. The craft has taken so many pictures of the ringed wonder that they were recently made into a short flyby film that looks like it was created by George Lucas rather than a robotic space explorer.

The Cassini probe was launched in 1997 and took a further 7 years to reach Saturn's orbit. The total cost of its overarching objective of studying the ringed planet stands at a staggering $3.26 billion. However, the wealth of information it has wrought — including amazing pictures like the one above, and recordings of massive lightning storms on the planet — have already made it one of the best investments in space exploration. Hopefully Juno — which began a 5-year trek to Jupiter just last month — will bring us some equally stunning shots of Saturn's neighbor.
[Image credit: NASA]

Transit of Venus, 2012

The next transit of Venus will occur on June 5–June 6 in 2012, succeeding the previous transit on June 8, 2004. After 2012, the next transits of Venus will be in December 2117 and December 2125.

• Where visible

   

Astronomers discover planet made of diamond

LONDON (Reuters) - Astronomers have spotted an exotic planet that seems to be made of diamond racing around a tiny star in our galactic backyard.

The new planet is far denser than any other known so far and consists largely of carbon. Because it is so dense, scientists calculate the carbon must be crystalline, so a large part of this strange world will effectively be diamond.

"The evolutionary history and amazing density of the planet all suggest it is comprised of carbon -- i.e. a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun," said Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.

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Kollimasie werkswinkel

Met al die sirkeltjies en swart kolletjies in plek gaan jy net baie beter sien met jou teleskoop. By `n werkswinkel wat Thinus van der Merwe en Brett du Preez by die Boyden-sterrewag vir amateur sterrekundiges aangebied het, het lede geleer hoe om onder meer `n Cheshire kollimeerder te gebruik. 

Tipiese somer vlieswolke het die dieplugwaarneming in die wiele gery, maar daar was genoeg oop kolle om vinnig na Tuc 47 (NGC 104) en ook  `n paar ander voorwerpe te kyk.

Komeet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) in Sagitta was ook op die spyskaart en is en Wessel du Preez van Senekal het dit vinnig met sy nuwe 10" Skywatcher opgespoor. Net so links onder M71 (sterbondel).

• Vroeër die middag het James Ross gehelp om al die spieël wat geslyp word se randjies te "bevel". Hy en Thinus het ook geloer of almal nog op die regte spoor is met die harde werk.

2012 Karoo-sterrefees

Die Sterrefees by Kambro Padstal by Britstown is in Weg, die reistydskrif aangekondig.

• Kambro padstal was een van die naaswenners in Weg se kompetisie vir padstalle in Suid-Afrika.

• 21 - 25 Maart 2012

Gerrit Penning en Pieter Pieterse maak reg vir die nag se waarnemings by Britstown tydens die 2011 sterrefees.

KAROO STARPARTY 2012

The ASSA Pretoria Centre is continuing the annual National Karoo Starparty which was started in
2009 at the Kambro Padstal, about 20 km north of Britstown in the Karoo, next to the N12 National Road. This event is intended to be a get-together for friends that want to enjoy the beautiful Karoo sky and there are no scheduled events, talks or workshops – we go there simply to enjoy the company of fellow stargazers and the legendary Karoo sky. 

The date for the 2012 Starparty is scheduled for the week-end of 21 March 2012. That is Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 March 2012.

- Wednesday 12 March is a National Holiday. Please book early to avoid dissappointment! 

There is also accommodation available in Britstown at the Karoo Country Inn.

See http://www.kambroaccom.co.za or phone Wilma Strauss at 0833056668 for details of the site and to make a booking.

- Meer inligting oor die 2011 Karoo-sterrefees

- Kambro Padstal by Britstown   GPS S30°-25-00.3 E23°-33-56.1

A Southern Comet on its way to us

 Copyright © 1995 by Tim Puckett

This image was taken by Tim Puckett (Villa Rica, Georgia, USA) on 1995 December 28.99, using a 0.30-m f/7 Meade LX-200 and an SBIG ST-6 CCD camera. It is a 300-second exposure.

• Visit the webpage

16 August 2011: Closest approach of the brightest comet of the year
Comet: 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková
Visible: August until September, fading in October
Magnitude: 6
Finder charts: Sky Guide (pg 31)

 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková

• Info from Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand

 The comet Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova is expected to brighten rapidly in August as it passes to the south of the Earth. It will be observable from the southern hemisphere for about 2 weeks before getting too close to the Sun.

At its closest the comet will be 0.060 AU from the Earth, that is about 9 million kilometers away. While this is close for a comet, it is still about 24 times the distance of the moon. When it is first at magnitude 10, on the evening of August 9/10 it will be visible from New Zealand throughout the night, setting only briefly during daylight hours. For the next few nights until August 16 it will be circumpolar although low in the sky in the evening. On the 17th it will set briefly in the evening to rise again about midnight.

Over the next few days, as the comet moves north it will rise after midnight so becoming a morning object. Its elongation from the Sun will decrease as the comet moves away from the Earth towards the Sun and it will rise later in the morning to become lost in the morning twilight by about August 23.

By mid September Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova will be an 8th magnitude object rising about 90 minutes before the Sun into the dawn sky. The comet will then be slow moving in Leo, a few degrees from Regulus. By mid October it will have faded to magnitude 10.

45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková is a periodic comet discovered by Minoru Honda December 3, 1948. The comet is named after Minoru Honda, Antonín Mrkos and Ludmila Pajdušáková. The orbit is elliptical with a period of 5.252 years. The comet nucleus is estimated to be 1.6 kilometers in diameter. (Information from Wikipedia.) 

45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova
Perihelion: 2011 September 28
Maximum magnitude about 7 

 

Vaarwel aan NASA se ruimtependeltuig, Atlantis

Willie Koorts:

Wat ‘n fantastiese manier om die Pendeltuig program vaarwel te roep!  Na Oleg se voorspelling dat die twee ‘n paar minute uitmekaar sou wees en Rudie se opmerking op Facebook dat hulle verby die Suiderkruis gaan vlieg, het ek my foto beplan deur op een plek te konsentreer en agterna die fotos te kombineer.  Ek was so besig om te konsentreer op Atlantis, dat ek eers later besef het dat ISS so kort na dit volg, om die waarheid te sê, hulle was naby genoeg om in een veld te pas, maar ek moes deurdruk met my beplande foto.
Dit was wonderlik dat ons so goed geplaas was vir die swanesang, en boonop ook nog perfekte weer in die middel van die winter!

• Besoek gerus OOg se webblad vir nog `n paar foto's

Happy first birthday, Neptune!

On 12 July, Neptune will celebrate its very first birthday because exactly one Neptunian year -- or 164.79 Earth years -- will have passed since its discovery.

Neptune was mathematically predicted before it was first telescopically observed on 24 September 1846. Astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle and his assistant Heinrich Louis d'Arrest used Urbain Le Verrier's calculations to locate the planet. It was found to be within a single degree of where Le Verrier had predicted it would be and it was the first planet to have been discovered deliberately.

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How to tick the Horesehead nebula of your astro bucket list

Seeing the Horsehead with a filter is a real accomplishment; finding it without one is something to very be proud of!

Dark Nebula w/nebulosity

aka B33, LDN 1630

Minimum requirements to detect: 8-inch scope under dark skies

• More information to to tick this of your astro bucket list

Nog `n maanverduisteringfoto

Frans Human van ASSA Bloemfontein het hierdie samestelling van die totale maanverduistering afgeneem.