OWU Astronomy Club

No special equipment needed - your eyes will do just fine! If you have binoculars, use them as well for a view that is different from but not necessarily better than the naked-eye view. In the US Eastern time zone, the Moon will enter the umbra, the darkest part of Earth's shadow, at 10:28pm on Sunday night, May 15, to begin the partial eclipse phase. Total eclipse begins at 11:29pm and lasts until 12:54am. In other time zones, just shift those times by the usual difference between time zones. In the western US the Moon will rise while already partially eclipsed. See the article for more details.

Witness a Total Lunar Eclipse on Sunday, May 15–16 The full Flower Moon ducks inside Earth's shadow in a total lunar eclipse this month. Prepare for all the highlights of the special event.

Tonight there will be the longest PARTIAL lunar eclipse since 1440 and until 2669. What that means is that the Moon will ALMOST but not quite completely enter the darkest part of Earth's shadow, the umbra. A total eclipse is better than a partial eclipse, so I don't know that I will stay up for this, but maybe I'll set my alarm and go outside to see mid-eclipse at 4:03am EST - the forecast right now (noon) for Central Ohio is a cloudy start to the night followed by clear skies, so it should be visible. The Moon should be an ethereal dim pinkish-grey color sitting pretty near the Pleiades - see the link for a diagram.

A Near-Miss Total Lunar Eclipse A near-total lunar eclipse will be widely visible across North America on the night of November 18–19. Dress warmly and go for it!

Jupiter and Saturn are now so close together that their names overlap on this view from the Stellarium sky simulator for 6pm this evening looking west/southwest. They'll be closest tomorrow (the 21st), but they'll be a beautiful pair for days before and after. I recommend giving them a look if the clouds cooperate where you are! They look great in binoculars, and they can even be seen together in the same eyepiece if you have a telescope.

The Moon, Jupiter (right), and Saturn (left) are confabulous this evening. Bright red Mars is also visible well to the east of them.

Mars is at opposition today. That means that the Sun, Earth, and Mars are as close to being lined up as they will get for this trip around the Sun, so that Mars and the Sun are 180 degrees apart as seen from Earth. As a result, they are on opposite sides of our sky, so here is Mars rising in the east shortly after the Sun set in the west. It will be bright and beautiful all night long, and set in the west around the time the Sun rises in the east.

Mars and the Moon are an impressive pair tonight (October 2)! Mars is quite bright because it is near its closest approach to Earth on October 6, and the Moon is just past full. Here is a simulation using the free Stellarium sky simulator (stellarium.org).

"The Perseid meteor shower, an annual celestial event beloved by millions of skywatchers around the world, is about to make its annual return to the night sky. It’s predicted to reach its peak late on the night of Tuesday, August 11th, and early on Wednesday, August 12th. Head out after sunset and catch as many meteors as you can before the Moon rises shortly after midnight (local time)."

See the article for more details and observing tips.

Prepare for the Perseids - Sky & Telescope The annual Perseid meteor shower is upon us. Grab a folding chair or a blanket and head outdoors after sunset on August 11th and enjoy the celestial show.

This evening Venus is in conjunction with the Pleiades star cluster, which means they are in the same direction from us, so that Venus looks like it's inside the cluster. Of course, Venus is really much closer to us - the Pleiades are about 450 light years away. Venus is so bright that it might make the Pleiades a bit hard to see with the naked eye, but it's still worth a look. They look great through binoculars! But don't wait - here in Central Ohio, they are in the western sky and will set in a few hours. The view is better when they are higher up. If you are in another time zone, go out when the sky gets dark after sunset. Here are some Stellarium (www.stellarium.org) simulations. The first one shows the view more as the eye would see it, and the second one is zoomed in. Click on them in your browser to see the whole image.

Hey, it's clear out tonight in Central Ohio. Go out and take a look at Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion (which is high in the SE in the early evening and high in the SW just before midnight right now). It's even dimmer than it was a few weeks back (the last time we had clear skies).

Ordinarily it's as bright as the great blue giant Rigel, at the lower right corner of this image, but now it's as dim as Bellatrix, the star in the upper right.

See Venus Near Saturn in the Night Sky This Week and Make Your (Skywatching) Season Bright! Venus and Saturn will appear at their closest to one another in the sky this week and their closest approach is tonight (Dec. 10) at 11:41 p.m. EST (0441 GMT on Dec. 11).

Tonight the Moon and Saturn are companions in the sky.

The Moon and Jupiter are having a meetup this evening.

This evening (Sep. 5) the Moon and bright Jupiter are near each other in our sky. A bit below them is the red supergiant star Antares, in the constellation Scorpius.

Today there will be a total solar eclipse visible along a path running across the Pacific Ocean and South America. Multiple ways to watch online are at this link. It's not the same as being there, of course, but it's still cool!

Tuesday’s total solar eclipse: how to watch Just after 4:30 pm Eastern, you can watch the moon blot out the sun in South America.

It says February in the preview (???), but it's really for July.

Night Sky, February 2019: What You Can See This Month [Maps] Find out what's up in your night sky during July 2019 and how to see it in this Space.com stargazing guide.

If you are an early riser you can see Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and the Moon all together in the morning sky before sunrise. It'll be pretty! In fact, for the next several mornings the view will be similar, except that the Moon will keep shifting to the east due to its orbital motion around our planet. Here is a screenshot from Stellarium, an excellent sky simulator that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux and that you can download for free at stellarium.org. It is not a trial version, it is the full-featured program.

There will be a total eclipse of the Moon on Sunday night ---> Monday morning. It is supposed to be bitterly cold here in Central Ohio, so bundle up, and maybe just step outside every once in awhile! In the Eastern Time Zone first contact with Earth's umbra (the darker part of its shadow) is at 10:34 PM on Sunday, so that the partial phase begins. Totality, when the Moon is fully inside the umbra, starts at 11:41 PM on Sunday. Mid-eclipse is at 12:12 AM on Monday, and the end of totality is at 12:44 AM. Then there will be a partial eclipse until 1:51 AM. Don't skip totality! Seeing the Moon partially eclipsed is cool, but the reddish color during totality is what you really want to see. If Earth had no atmosphere, the totally eclipsed Moon would be almost completely black. However, Earth's atmosphere scatters light. As seen from the Moon, the edge of the Earth's disk is the dividing line between night and day, so the Sun is rising or setting all along the edge at those locations on Earth's surface. As a result, the Moon is bathed in the light of all the sunrises and sunsets on Earth during totality: on the Moon you would see Earth's disk surrounded by a glowing reddish ring of atmosphere, giving the entire lunar landscape a pinkish or reddish glow. One of the allures of a total lunar eclipse is that we are never sure what color the Moon will be during totality. If the air along the edge of Earth's disk as seen from the Moon is mostly clear, the Moon looks bright and pink, but if there are a lot of clouds/thunderstorms happening along the edge or there is a lot of volcanic ash in the atmosphere the Moon can look much darker and redder.

Your Guide to January's Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse - Sky & Telescope How to see the total lunar eclipse on the night of January 20–21. Watch as the first full Moon of 2019 dances delightfully with Earth's shadow!

Chasing Comet 46P/Wirtanen as the Moon Looms - Sky & Telescope Here's an update on the progress of Comet 46P/Wirtanen. It's not too late to see it, even with the Moon shining brightly on coming nights.

The coming days provide some nice opportunities to see Mercury in the evening sky after sunset. That's something of an accomplishment because Mercury is always near the Sun in the sky since its orbit is a lot closer to the Sun than ours. It's already possible to see it today along with Venus, and in a few days they will be joined by a waxing crescent Moon.

Tour March's Sky: Planet Peeks at Dusk - Sky & Telescope With winter's chill fading away, this is a great time to gaze up into the stars — and to be ready for an evening appearance by fleet-footed Mercury. This month's astronomy podcast guides you around the nighttime sky.

Northern Lights in Ohio? Sun Storm May Ramp Up Auroras Wednesday Night

space.com People as far south as Ohio and Indiana may be able to see the northern lights Wednesday night (Sept. 6), thanks to a powerful sun storm.

Perseid Meteor Shower 2017: When, Where & How to See It

The peak is tonight!

space.com The Perseid meteor shower will burst into light this August as Earth passes through the long trail left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. This year, though, the moon may interfere with the show. Here's how and when to see the Perseids.

The star next to the Moon this evening is Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo.

If you didn't see the Moon cover Aldebaran, you can still see it uncover it. In Columbus that will be at about 11:38 PM in Central Ohio. (I miscalculated when it would cover it. Sigh.)

Aldebaran's Disappearing Act on March 4th - Sky & Telescope

The Moon is going to pass in front of the bright star Aldebaran on Saturday, March 4. It will be easily visible to the naked eye! More details are in the article. In Columbus it starts just after midnight at 12:00:19 AM. To find out when it starts at other locations, you can use this table: http://lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/0305zc692.htm Note that the times are UT, so you have to subtract how every many hours you are behind Greenwich (4 hours for EST, 5 hours for CST, 6 hours for MST, 7 hours for PST).

skyandtelescope.com On the night of March 4th, all you'll need are your eyes to watch the Moon occult Aldebaran. Better yet, place yourself on the graze line.

February's Deep Penumbral Lunar Eclipse - Sky & Telescope

Coming up on Friday, November 10.

skyandtelescope.com North American observers can watch the Moon flirt with Earth’s shadow on the evening of February 10th. No daytime shadow you normally see has a sharp edge. Instead, it’s always surrounded by a fuzzy perimeter — called the penumbra — created because the Sun is not a point source. A penumbra’s width,…

Two Planet Pairs Perform at Dusk - Sky & Telescope

Check it out tomorrow (Saturday, August 27) if you have the chance!

skyandtelescope.com As twilight fades for the rest of August, follow two planetary groupings happening at dusk in different parts of the sky.

Two Planet Pairs Perform at Dusk - Sky & Telescope

Thanks to Mark Chalmers for this!

skyandtelescope.com As twilight fades for the rest of August, follow two planetary groupings happening at dusk in different parts of the sky.

Tour August's Sky: Perseids & Planets Aplenty - Sky & Telescope

See meteors, and watch Mars and Saturn dance in Scorpius.

skyandtelescope.com Download or play Sky & Telescope 's astronomy podcast, and you'll get a guided tour of the night sky. In early evening look for Mars and Saturn.

Tonight the Mars-Saturn-Antares triangle is joined by the Moon! Mars is at its brightest in the past decade, and comes to opposition (most nearly lined up with Earth and Sun so that it is almost directly opposite the Sun in our sky) on Sunday. Mars will be closest to Earth on May 30. They'll all be above the horizon by 10 PM, but the view gets better by around midnight since they will be higher in the sky.

Here is a Stellarium (free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux at stellarium.org) simulation of the view looking south tonight at midnight. Mars, Saturn, and the star Antares make a nice triangular spectacle, and for no extra charge you can see the Moon and Jupiter to boot!

May 9th Transit of Mercury: Everything You Need to Know - Sky & Telescope

Looks like we'll be clouded out in Central Ohio, but there is a link to a live Internet stream in this article. If you are not clouded out, needless to say, don't look directly at the Sun to try to see it. That won't work, and you could blind yourself!

skyandtelescope.com The littlest planet will cross the enormous Sun for viewers in most of the world. Witness the transit of Mercury on May 9th.

How to Spot Mercury in the Evening Sky - Sky & Telescope

Make sure there are no trees or buildings blocking your view....

skyandtelescope.com If you've never seen the fleet-footed planet Mercury, now is a great time to look for it in the evening sky after sunset.

Curiosity Takes a Sandy Self-Portrait... and It's a Little Grainy

Check out the sand grains in the other photo in the post. Yes, they're just sand grains, but they are on Mars, and they are in high resolution!

slate.com The Curiosity rover took an amazing self-portrait on the edge of a Martian dune field. It also got a close-up of the sand showing individual grains.

Why Magnetars Should Freak You Out

This is fun to read, but you might freak out.

space.com Magnetars may be "dead," but they are nearly incomprehensibly dense, magnetic and terrifying, reveals astronomer Paul Sutter.

Astronomers Solve Two Big Cosmic Mysteries With One Powerful Radio Burst

slate.com Fast Radio Bursts have long been a mystery, but astronomers finally nail them down ... and find half the missing mass in the Universe.

A Telescope So Powerful It Can See Into The Distant Past

greatbigstory.com There’s a telescope deep in Chile’s Atacama Desert that takes pictures so massive that it requires a supercomputer as powerful as 16 million PCs to decipher the images. This is the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), run by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the data it’s retrieving fro…

With Mercury's Arrival, Five Planets in View - Sky & Telescope

skyandtelescope.com Early risers have been patiently waiting for the innermost planet to join four others — and the Moon — in the predawn sky. Now they're all in view.