Comet Holmes (17P) - Brightens by 1 million times!

This is certainly a dramatic brightening of this comet & here in the NT we are well placed for a good view of this "exploding" comet.
However viewers in Australia as far south as Adelaide are getting a look at it low on the northern Horizon.
If your in the northern Hemisphere you are in a prime viewing position !
What's happening to Comet Holmes is a mystery, but it is one that you can see with your own eyes. After 9:30 pm CST in the NT Australia, you will see Comet Holmes at Magnitude 2.5 rising in the North East , is similar in brightness to the stars of the Constellation Perseus.
It is very easy to see below the Alpha star "Mirfak" in Perseus.
The Sky Map shows the location of this amazing Comet glowing brightly like a fuzzy yellow star.
Viewing will get better as the week progresses and the moon comes up later in the evening, giving a nice dark sky background to see it against.
If you have any kind of Binoculars or a Telescope, this will be an Ideal target for you due to it's Brightness.
So make sure you get out & see it while it is still bright, I for one will be out there tonight !

Halloween Moon

Features on the Full moon
With the full moon dominating the night sky this weekend, it's worth noting some of the prominent features visible with the reflected light of the full moon.
A pair of binoculars is all you will need to see these features.
-The Mares
These are known as the "Seas" of the moon. The name seas came about prior to the invention of the telescope in the 1500's when these obviously dark areas of the moon were thought to be seas of water.
In fact what they are, is ancient solidified lava plains, caused by massive impacts fracturing the young moons crust billions of years ago.
Four of the Major Sea's are Labeled in the attached photo.
-Bright Young Craters
When we speak of "young" craters on the moon, we are talking about craters that were formed millions of years ago.
The brightest of these features Tyco, labeled above in the southern region of the moon was caused by a 10km wide meteor striking the moon Aprox. 109 million years ago. the resulting 85 km wide crater has walls 4800m high & the bright "Rays" of the impact debris stretch 1/2 way across the face of the moon !
Copernicus on the other hand is 810 million years old, yet its cobweb like blanket of ejected material spread over an area 500km in diameter to a depth of 900m.

So take the time to view the moon as Halloween approaches & read the geological history history on its battered face.

Orionid Meteors - What Did you see ?

Observing Reports

• Up here in the NT we saw 20 Orionids in the hour between 4:15am and 5:15am Sunday morning. About 5 of them were bright & left brief trains. All were notable for their great speed & blueish white color.It was well worth the early morning effort for a fellow club member and I, from our beachside location. Ian - ian@nightskysecrets.com

• This weekend, Fri/Sat was the only overnight I had available - and the weather lookssuspect for Sun/Mon. So I jumped out of bed at 1:30 and headed for the hills with my comfy chair and blanket, coffee and radio.From around 2:30 until sunrise I saw about a dozen meteors, most of which were definitely coming from a radiant point in Orion. A couple fairly bright. All were very fast.Stayed to watch Saturn and Venus rise, then headed for home and a few more hours sleep.
  I'm happy with what I saw. Eric - http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=263298&postcount=18

• What Did you see ? Add your observations, by either Emailing me & I will post here or make a comment in the comments sections below.
  

Orionid Meteors - Hayley's Comet

Orionid Meteor Shower - Peak's on 21st Oct
Watch a piece of history fulfill its destiny, and burn up in a bright flash of light as it hits our Atmosphere at 66km/second !
Yes that right, it is that time of the year where we are treated to the lovely sight of the Orionid meteor shower.
These ancient bits of Hayley's comet put on a very flashy display as they burst into our atmosphere at this incredible speed
Most of what you see is taking place at 100km (60 miles) in our upper atmosphere as these tiny fragments, most which are no bigger than a grain of sand or rice for a big one, Ionize the air around them as they vaporise in a flash of light.
Some of them will leave a smoking "Train" which is the burnt up debris of their passage.
Usually this train will last just a few seconds, but they have been known to persist for up to 15 minutes with some meteor showers.
I have just come from an early morning observing session of the Orionid's myself & I counted 4 of these flashy meteor in a 20 minute period from the suburbs on the morning of Friday the 19th. At the peak on the 21st you may to see up to 25 meteors per hour streaking across the sky, appearing to radiate from the constellation of Orion "The Hunter"
The best place of course to see any meteor shower is from the dark skies of the country, where the lank of artificial light will allow you to see the fainter meteors of the shower.
In my experience meteors tend to come in little bursts close together, so make sure you give yourself an hour or so at least to lay back, relax, enjoy your favourite warm drink & perhaps even listen to some soothing music and enjoy the show (just try not to fall asleep !)
The best way to see this and any meteor shower is with the Naked eye laying back in a deck chair, on a picnic mat or the like & looking in the general direction of the constellation which in this case is Orion.
The attached map shows the constellation of Orion high overhead at 4 am in the morning with the radiant labeled as "Orionids".
Click on the map to enlarge and get a better image.
The early hours of the morning and the subsequent absence of the moon, through till first light will be the best time to see this shower, so make sure you rug up for the cooler weather & enjoy !

Morning Skies - Planetary Delights !

Venus-Saturn-Mars
Its an early start to the day, but rising at 5 am has its rewards !
Looking to the East right now, the early bird will catch the "astronomical worm" and be rewarded with the sight of brilliant white Venus, Yellowish Saturn & the Giant Star Regulus in the constellation Leo "The Lion", forming a lovely right angle triangle.
The star map below shows it as seen from Gove NT Australia, but it can be seen most places in the world (up the other way if you are in the northern hemisphere).
Even as we look at this striking asterism, our eyes will be drawn up to the bright red wanderer passing into the feet of the constellation Gemini "The Twins". This is of course the growing disk of the planet Mars, as it continues it's steady march across the night sky towards it's Christmas present to us all, when it reaches opposition to us on the 25th of December.
Opposition being when Mars is in the opposite side of the earth to the sun, meaning that Mars will rise in the east as the Sun sets on December 25th.

So make the effort in the early hours of the morning to see this planetary Trio, which even with a small telescope will show their shape & colours.
Venus is at almost 1/2 phase right now (thats right, Venus has phases just like the moon !)
Saturn is slowly growing in apparent size as the earth catches up with the ringed planet in its orbit.
Mars will grow 1/2 as big again in its apparent size by Christmas, but already dark surface features are already becoming visible with a telescope.
No doubt you will need to rug up if you are in the northern hemisphere, but make the effort and get out under the morning sky to view this lovely planetary trio.

Sputniks 50th Birthday

Just 50 short years ago on October 4 1957 the first Satellite to orbit the earth was successfully launched into space by the USSR, to the great surprise of the USA, then firmly engaged in a space race with the USSR.

Falling to earth just 3 months after it none the less catapulted us into the computer age that we all take for granted today as we communicate across the world in seconds on our high speed broadband connections & computers that scientists of the day could only dream of.

Our fascination with space continues to this day both in the community at large and in the scientific community as it breaks new ground each day, discovering new worlds beyond our own, unraveling the mysteries of the galaxy we live in and the universe we are all part of, with revelations of the origin & fate of it all that were unknown when Sputnik was launched.

Now as you look into the night sky you will see satellites streaking across the night sky every few minutes, a far cry from the simple beeps emitted from Sputnik, just 50 short years ago.

If you are new to astronomy or you would like to get a start in discovering what it is all about about & how YOU can unravel the secrets of the night sky you can down load a free copy of my Audio "night sky secrets revealed" at www.nightskysecrets.com

Happy satellite spotting !