2008 – What’s Up

Week of 29th December

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter next Sunday
• Mercury reaches Greatest Elongation next Sunday and will set as much as 90 minutes after the Sun in SW (care when searching due to the Sun’s proximity)
• The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks early on Saturday morning but, if clear, it is worth watching out from the end of he week. Th Radiant is in Bootes, below UMa (the saucepan/plough). The old constellation of Quadrans Muralis, the mural quadrant, having been scrapped with the demise of that astronomical instrument
• The Sun remains blank
• There are no ISS passes or Iridium flares this week

 

Week of 22nd December

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New next Saturday
• The Sun remains blank
• Venus continues to brighten and is waning in phase
• There are no ISS passes or evening Iridium flares this week

 

Week of 15th December

 

• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter on Friday
• The Sun remains blank
• Next Saturday, 21st is officially the shortest day, the Winter Solstice, however more important is when the Sun starts to move noticeably north, making the days lengthen, this occurs on Christmas Day
• Venus is brightening and dominates the twilight sky. Orion is now high in the southern sky and the Belt points down to the brightest star in the sky, Sirius in the SE
• There are no ISS passes, but there is one bright Iridium flare on Tuesday at 17.03.26, 22 degrees altitude in WNW

 

Week of 8th December

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be Full (Wolf Moon)on Friday
• The Sun remains blank, though there is strong prominence acticity
• Jupiter is now further West than brighter Venus, both dominate the twilight sky
• There are 2 more ISS passes: On Monday at 17.14.58 W to S and Wednesday 16.33.30 WSW to S. The tool-kit is visible in Binos on Monday 16,48,56 W to SSE, Tuesday 17.14.48 WSW to SSW and Tursday 16.29.25 WSW to SSW
• There is one bright Iridium flare at 17.01.09, 20 degrees altitude in SSW

 

Week of 1st December

 

• The most spectacular naked-eye event this year will occur on Monday. Jupiter, Venus and the new crescent Moon will form a triple Conjunction within 2 degrees in the SW sky (in Sagittarius) just after sunset. From 3.45pm till 5.15pm, the Moon will pass in front of Venus in an Occultation.
• The Moon is waxing and will be first Quarter on Friday
• The Sun remains blank
• This is a week of good ISS passes and the tool-bag dropped by Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper is visble in binoculars some 20 minutes ahead of th ISS in exactly the same orbit. The passes are as follows Tool-bag times are in brackets): Monday 17.16.41 W to E (17.03.12). Tuesday 17.43.46 W to ESE (17.28.42). Wednesday 16.35.28 W to E (16.18.48) and 18.10.52 W to SSW (17.54.06). Thursday 17.02.32 (16.44.10) and 18.38.10 (18.19.33). Friday 17.29.38 (17.09.27). Saturday 16.21.16 W to ESE and 17.56.59 W to SSE (17.34.50) and Sunday 16.48.22 W to SE (16.20.37)
• There is one bright evening Iridium flare on Wednesday at 17.11.13, 28 degrees altitude in SSW

 

Week of 24th November

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New on Thursday. It should be visible as a slim crescent next week-end
• A rare conjunction is about to occur at the start of December between the crescent Moon, Jupiter and Venus. All this week Jupiter and Venus are getting noticeably closer day by day if you look West after sunset.On Monday 1st December, just as it is getting dark, the Moon will pass in front of Venus accurate times to follow next week-end) and all three will be within 2 degrees
• The Sun remains blank
• The ISS makes multiple early evening passes as follows: Monday at 17.16.25 SSW to ESE and 18.50.47 WSW to WSW. Tuesday 17.41.51 SW to ESE and 19.16.54 W to W. Wednesday 16.33.18 SSW to E and 18.07.45 WSW to SSW. Thursday 16.58.45 SW to E and 18.33.51 W to W. Friday 17.24.40 WSW to E and 18.59.57 W to W. Saturday 16.15.36 SW to E and 17.50.44 W to ENE and finally Sunday 16.41.31 WSW to E and 18.16.49 W to W
• There is one bright evening iridium flare on Tuesday at 17.42.26, 34 degrees altitude in S

 

Week of 17th November

 

• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter on Wednesday
• The Leonid meteor shower peaks at 18.00 UT on Monday. We are now well past the high rates seen several years ago and a modest 20 or so an hour are expected
• The western sky after sunset is now dominated by Jupiter and Venus, which are moving closer together to an unusual conjunction with the Moon on 1st December
• The Sun has a disappearing spot 1008 and will soon be blank again
• The ISS returns to the evening skies at the end of the week as follows: Saturday 17.58.38 UT SSW to SSE and Sunday 18.23.44 UT SW to SSW. Next week will be much better. The Shuttle Endeavour has just launched to the ISS and we should see an extended shape in Binos
• There are 3 bright evening Iridium flares to watch out for: On Thursday 18.02.59, 38 degrees altitude in SSE. Friday 17.57.20 UT, 37 degrees in SSE and Saturday at 17.43.14 UT, 12 degrees in WNW

 

Week of 10th November

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be Full (Frosty Moon) on Thursday
• The Sun is blank again
• Venus is now prominent and bright in the western evening sky some 20 degrees from Jupiter
• The Taurid meteor shower had produced some bright fireballs and may contiue at a low rate for the first part of the week. Look out also for early Leonids
• There are no ISS evening passes this week but there is one brigt evening Iridium flare on Thursday at 18.34.06 UT, 41 degrees altitude in SSE

 

Week of 3rd November

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter on Thursday
• The Sun has one a small spot no. 1007 (cycle 24)
• The Moon, Jupiet and Venus are now all visible in the South West just after sunset and on Monday the Moon will be within 3 degrees of Jupiter
• There are no ISS evening passes this week but there is one bright Iridium flare on Tuesday at 16.53.21, 19 degrees altitude in W

 

Week of 27th October

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New on Tuesday. It may be visible as a new crescent on Wednesday when Venus will also be low on the Western horizon
• The Sun is blank
• There are no ISS passes this week and no bright evening Iridium flares

 

Week of 20th October

 

• British Summer Time ends next Sunday morning and the clocks go back one hour to Universal Time (UT) or GMT
• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter on Tuesday
• The Orionid meteor shower (max 25 per hour) peaks early on Tuesday morning, the radiant in Orion does not rise till around midnight. This debris stream is left over from Halley’s comet and usually produces fast meteors with lingering trains
• The Sun is blank again
• There is one superbright Iridium flare on Saturday at 19.19.30 BST, 48 degrees altitude in SSE

 

Week of 13th october

 

• The Moon will be Full (Hunter Moon) on Tuesday
• The Sun has a new cycle sunspot! (number 1005) after a 50 year low in sunspot count with 200 days of blank Sun, there have now been 3 new spots in the last 3 weeks. It looks as though Cycle 24 is beginning as normal and we are not stuck in a deep minimum
• An asteroid (about 3m) airburst over Sudan (about 1kT) at the start pf last week was witnessed by a KLM flight. The asteroid had been picked up 24 hours earlier when the collision was predicted. Next week on 22nd, The eath will have a 0.19 AU (18 million mile) pass by comet P/2008 T3 Barnard-Boattini. However at Magnitude 16, it is 10,000 times too dim to be seen by eye
• There are no ISS passes this week and no Iridium flares

 

Week of 6th October

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter on Tuesday with Jupiter within a couple of degrees
• The Sun is attepting to wake from its lengthy miminum and spot 1003 of the new cycle 24 is struggling to maintain an umbra
• Venus has returned to the evening sky but is barely perceptable low in the western twilight
• The ISS makes its last passes for a while: On Monday at 19.59.24 WSW to S. Tuesday at 18.49.48 W to SE. Wednesday 19.16.32 WSW to S and Thursday 18.33.35 WSW to S
• There are 3 bright Iridium flares: The brightest on Tuesday at 20.39.29 48 degrees altitude in ESE and Wednesday at 18.57.51 54 degrees altitude in S and at 20.33.29 48 degrees altitude in ESE

 

Week of 29th September

 

• The Moon is New on Monday and should be visible as a slender crescent on Wednesday
• The Sun remains blank
• There are good ISS passes this week as follows: The best on Monday at 20.05.25 W to E and 21.40.48 W to W. Tuesday 18.56.28 W to E and 20.31.48 W to S. Wednesday 19.22.51 W to E and 20.58.13 W to WSW. Thursday 19.49.12 W to ESE and 21.24.56 W to WSW. Friday 20.15.35 W to SSE. Saturday 19.06.30 W to ESE and 20.42.18 W to SW and Sunday 19.32.53 W to SE
• There is one superbright Iridium flare on Thursday at 19.24.53, 58 degrees altitude in SSE

 

Week of 22nd September

 

• The Moon will be Last Quarter on Monday
• Monday is the Autumnal equinox. The Sun will rise due East and set due West and day length becomes shorter than night time
• The Sun remains blank
• The ISS is back: On Monday at 21.11.26 SSW to ESE and 21.46.09 WSW to WSW. Tuesday 20.37.31 WSW to SE. Wednesday 19.29.09 SW to E and 21.03.57 WSW to WSW. Thursday at 19.55.18 WSW to E and 21.30.32 W to W. Friday 20.21.47 W to E and 21.57.07 W to W. Saturday 19.13.06 WSW to E and 20.48.21 W to W and Sunday the best is at 19.39.36 W to E and 21.14.57 W to W
• There are no bright evening Iridium flares

 

Week of 15th September

 

• The Moon is Full on Monday (Harvest Moon, the Full Moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox)
• The Sun is still blanks..one begins to wonder when this will change
• The ISS returns to our evening skies: On Saturady at 20.53.44 BST SSW to SSW and Sunday 19.46.18 BST S to ESE and 21.19.42 SW to SW
• There is one superbright Iridium flare on Friday at 20.24.58 BST, at 60 degrees in ESE

 

Week of 8th September

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be Full at the start of next week
• The Sun is still blank
• Jupiter is Stationary in its orbit on Tuesday and Uranus at opposition on Saturday when Neptune is within 1 degree of the Moon
• There are no evening ISS passes this week but there are 3 bright Iridium flares: On Wednesday at 22.26.13, 24 degrees altitude in NE. On Friday at 20.58.00, 57 degrees in E and Saturday at 22.17.35, 28 degrees altitude in ENE

 

Week of 1st September

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter next Sunday with bright red supergiant star Antares less than a degree to the North
• The Sun remains blank
• There are no evening ISS passes this week
• There are no particulalrly bright evening Iridium flares

 

Week of 25th August

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New on Saturday
• The Sun remains blank
• There are no ISS passes
• There are two Iridium flares to catch: On Monday at 22.18.42 BST, 40 degrees altitude in ENE and on Tuesday at 23.56.07 BST, 10 degrees altitude in W

 

Week of 18th August

 

• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter on Saturday
• The Sun remains blank
• There are no ISS passes but 2 bright Iridium flares: On Wednesday at 22.39.22, 33 degrees altitude in NE and on Saturday at 20.33.30 at 37 degrees altitude in N

 

Week of 11th August

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be Full (Corn Moon) on Friday. Following 2 weeks from the partial Solar eclipse, the Moon will be partially eclipsed on Friday. Rising already in the penumbral shadow of the Earth and entering the darker umbra at 20.40 BST. It will be 80% eclipsed at maximum. The umbral eclipse ends at 23.44 BST
• The Perseid meter shower peaks in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It will be worth watching on Monday and Tuesday nights but the waxing Moon will render observation less good till the small hours
• The Sun remains blank
• Jupiter will be 3 degrees N of the Moon on Wednesday
• There are no ISS passes this week but there are several bright Iridium flares to look out for: On Tuesday at 22.00.47 BST, 15 degress altitude in N and at 23.08.15 BST, 21 degrees altitude in NNE. Thursday at 21.32.29 BST, 22 degrees altitude in N and Friday at 22.53.56, 27 degrees altitude in NE

 

Week of 4th August

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter on Friday
• The Sun remians blank
• There are no ISS evening passes and no bright Iridium flares

 

Week of 28th July

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New on Friday when it passes in front of the Sun. The Eclipse which is Total from China will be Partial from the UK (max 22%, only 12% from Oxford). The eclipse will not be noticeable and should only be viewed using projection and never directly unless through approved Solar filters. The Eclipse starts at 9.33 BST and is maximum at 10.18 BST.
• The Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks early on Tuesday morning. looking South, the Radiant is close to the horizon but up to 10 per hour may be seen heading upwards to E, N and W.
• The Sun remains blank, though there has been some prominence activity on the NW limb
• The ISS makes its last passes for a while this week: On Monday at 21.29.36 and 23.14.56 W to S. Tuesday 22.05.37 W to ESE. Wednesday 22.31.38 W to SSE. Thursday 21.22.17 W to ESE. Friday 21.48.18 W to SE. Saturday 22.14.38 W to S and Sunday 21.04.55 W to SE
• There is one evening Iridium flare of note; on Tuesday at 23.29.45, 31 degrees altitude in WSW

 

Week of 21st July

 

• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter on Friday
• The Sun has one tiny sunspot no.1000
• Uranus will be 4 degrees south of the Moon on Tuesday
• The ISS makes some excellent passes, almost directly overhead as follows: On Monday at 23.27.30 WSW to E. Tuesday 22.16.05 WSW to E. Wednesday 22.39.34 WSW to E. Thursday at 21.28.08 WSW to E. Friday at 21.51.35 WSW to E and 23.26.43 W to ESE. Saturday at 23.50.18 W to SW and Sunday 22.38.41 W to ESE
• There is one superbright Iridium flare on Wednesday at 23.47.45, 38 degrees altitude in WSW

 

Week of 14th July

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be Full (Thunder Moon) on Friday
• The Sun remains blank
• Jupiter will be 3 degrees North of the Moon on Thursday and Neptune less than a degrees to the South of the Moon on Saturday
• The ISS returns to the evening skies from Friday. 23.51.52 WSW to E. Saturday 22.40.50 SSW to E and 00.15.24 WSW to E and Sunday 21.30.34 S to ESE, 23.04.01 WSW to E and 00.39.02 W to E
• There are 2 bright Iridium flares on Tuesday at 23.00.53, 25 degrees altitude in W and at 00.17.55, 47 degrees altitude in SW

 

Week of 7th July

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter on Thursday
• The Sun is totally blank
• Jupiter is at Oppostion on Wednesday. Though at its brightest it is still only at a low altitude above the Southern horizon even at its highest at midnight
• There are no ISS passes this week and no bright evening Iridium flares

 

Week of 30th June

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New on Thursday and visible as a crescent on Saturday
• The Earth reaches aphelion on Friday. Thus is the furthest distance from the Sun during its annual orbit. The Sun thus appears at its smallest (Do not attemtp to view the disc unless using approved Solar filters)
• Monday sees the 100 year anniversary of the last large confirmed Asteroid impact on the Earth. At 7.17am local time on 30th June 1908 a 30m Asteroid exploded some 8km above the Siberian tundra near Tunguska, wiping out and area equivalent to London within the M25
• The Sun is totally blank again
• There are no ISS passes this week. There is one bright evening Iridium flare on Wednesday at 21.42.56, 20 degrees altitude in NNW

 

Week of 23rd June

 

• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter on Thursday
• From Tuesday the length of the day will be shorter with the Sun rising and setting further South on the horizon each day
• There is one small sunspot number 999. There has been some significant prominence activity which may herald new spots this week
• This is the season for Noctilucent clouds. Electric blue clouds which form high in the atmosphere under the right conditions. On a clear night it is worth looking West 30 minutes to an hour after sunset, when the Sun is between 6 and 16 degrees below the horizon
• There are no ISS passes this week
• There are 3 bright evening Iridium flares: On Monday at 22.52.28, 28 degrees altitude in W. On Wednesday at 22.49.40, 24 degrees altitude in WNW and Friday at 22.46.55, 21 degrees altitude in WNW

 

Week of 16th June

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be Full (Solstice Moon) on Tuesday
• The Summer Solstice (longest day) occurs on Saturday, though the position of the Sun on the horizon at rising and setting barely changes fro 4 days, eventually reversing direction and heading Souith (for shorter days) on 24th
• The Sun is blank
• There are no ISS passes this week and no bright Iridium flares

 

Week of 9th June

 

• The Moon is now waxing and will be First Quarter on Tuesday
• On Monday Saturn will be 3 degrees north of the Moon
• The ISS has finished evening passes, but with the new modules attached it is now bright enough to be visible in daylight. The many reflective surfaces are causing it to flare as well. I will begin to put up any daytime passes
• There are no bright evening Iridium flares this week

 

Week of 2nd June

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New on Tuesday and visible as a slender crescent on Wednesday
• The Sun is blank
• The last few ISS passes for a while occur this week: On Monday at 22.54.03 W to S. Tuesday 21.40.57 W to SE and Wednesday 22.03.21 W to SSE
• There are no bright evening Iridium flares

 

Week of 26th May

 

• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter on Wednesday
• The Moon passes less than 1 degree N of Neptune on Tuesday and less than 5 degrees N of Uranus on Thursday
• The Sun is totally blank
• The next launch of the Space Shuttle is scheduled for Saturday
• This week is ideal for ISS passes, though they are rather late evening events. On Monday at 22.52.59 WSW to E and 00.28.00 W to E. Tuesday 23.15.15 W to E. Wednesday 23.37.34 W to E. Thursday 22.24.45 W to E and 23.59.50 W to ESE. Friday 22.47.01 W to E. Saturday 23.09.16 W to ESE and Sunday at 23.31.30 W to SE
• There are no bright evening Iridium flares

 

Week of 19th May

 

• The Moon will be Full (Rose Moon) on Tuesday
• The Sun has 3 small spots from the old cycle
• Jupiter is back in the evening skies and will be 2 degrees North of the Moon on Saturday
• The ISS is back making late evening passes as follows: On Wednesday at 23.11.27 SW to E. Thursday 21.59.34 SSW to E and 23.33.38 WSW to E. Friday 22.21.14 SW to E and 23.55.58 W to E (almost through Zenith). Saturday 22.43.20 WSW to E and Sunday 21.30.55 SW to E and 23.05.39 W to E
• There is one bright Iridium flare on Friday at 23.19.40, 35 degrees altitude in WSW

 

Week of 12th May

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter on Monday, when it will be just South of the bright star Regulus (alpha Leo). On Tuesday it will be just North of Saturn
• On Wednesday the planet Mercury reaches Greatest Elongation (largest angular separation from the Sun as viewed from Earth)
• After a short lived cycle 24 spot, the Sun is again blank
• There are no evening ISS passes
• There are two bright Iridium flares: On Monday at 23.00.06, 18 degrees altitude in W and Wednesday at 22.57.25, 16 degrees in WNW

 

Week of 5th May

 

• The Moon is New on Monday and should be visible as a slender crescent next to planet Mercury on Tuesday, with red Aldeberan to East and Pleiades to West. It should be visible from about 21.15 and will set in NW at 22.30. In fact Mercury is at its best for viewing this year (a pinbkish dot) in the evening twilight
• The Sun is still blank
• There are no evening ISS passes, but there are 2 bright iridium flares; on Monday at 23.14.23 BST, 25 degrees altitude in W and Thursday at 23.05.40, 23 degrees in W

 

Week of 28th April

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New at the start of next week
• The Sun is blank again
• Saturn will be stationary on Thursday
• Thursday is also the Celtic feast of Beltaine. One of the cross-quarter days, roughly half-way between the Equinox and Solstice
• There are no ISS passes but there is one bright Iridium flare on Monday at 23.38.06, 29 degrees altitude in WSW

 

Week of 21st April

 

• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter at the start of the week
• The Sun is blank again
• There is no ISS pass this week but there is one bright Iridium flare on Thursday at 23.53.05, 30 degrees altitude in WSW

 

Week of 14th April

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be Full next Sunday (Flower Moon)
• The second sunspot of cycle 24 is making an appearance on the Sun’s eastern limb
• There are no ISS passes this week
• There is one bright Iridium flare on Friday at 21.39.59, 59 degrees altitude in SSE

 

Week of 7th April

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter next Saturday. The slender crescent Moon will be almost directly in front of the Open cluster the Pleiades (M45) on Tuedsay
• The Sun is blank again
• The ISS (the ATV is safely docked) makes its final passes as follows (times BST): Monday at 20.32.40 W to ESE and 22.08.10 W to SW. Tuesday 20.54.26 W to SE. Wednesday 21.16.26 W to S and Friday 20.24.29 W to SSE
• There is one bright evening Irium flare on Monday at 21.58.01 BST at 67 degrees in ENE

 

Week of 31st March

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New next weekend. There is a chance of a very slender crescent shortly following the Sun down in the West on Sunday
• The Sun has become significantly active again with 3 large spots traversing the disc. These are leading to mid-lattitude auroral displays. The spots are remnants of the old cycle 23 and are at low altitude
• The ISS is visible this week and the ATV Jules Verne ESA module is in close proximity and will undergo a trial docking at the end of the week. Two spots of light should therefore be visible (times for ATV in brackets): On Monday at 21.09.38 BST (21.07.08 BST) from WSW to E. Tuesday at 19.56.49 BST(19.49.14 BST) SW to E and 21.31.40 BST (21.23.40 BST) W to ENE. Wednesday at 20.18.39 BST (20.05.34 BST)WSW to E and 21.53.41 BST (21.40.12 BST) W to W. Thursday at 20.40.36 (21.56.41 BST) W to E. Friday at 21.02.31 BST W to E (22.13.09 BST). Saturday 21.24.24 BST (20.54.50 BST) W to SE and Sunday 21.11.11 BST (21.11.12 BST) W to E and 21.46.18 BST W to SSW
• There are two bright Iridium flares on Wednesday at 20.43.47 BST, 63 degrees altitude in ESE and a superbright flare on Thursday at 22.12.58, 37 degrees in ENE

 

Week of 24th March

 

• Note all times will change (forward 1 hour) next week-end at 1am on Sunday 30th March to British Summer Time (BST = UT+1)
• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter next Saturday
• The Sun remains blank
• The ISS returns this week at is visible as follows: On Thursday at 20.17.05 UT SSW to SSW. On Friday at 20.39.00 UT WSW to SW. On Saturday at 19.26.49 UT SSW to E and 21.01.13 UT WSW to WSW and the best on Sunday at 20.48.40 BST SW to E. The Shuttle Endeavour remains docked to the ISS till Tuesday. Visible 4.5 minutes (in fact 2000km!) ahead of the ISS, the Jules Verne module (ESA) can be observed and will connect to the ISS after next week-end
• There is one bright evening Iridium flare on Friday at 20.04.54 UT, 56 degrees altitude in E

 

Week of 17th March

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be Full (Paschal/Chaste or Pink Moon) on the 21st, the Vernal Equinox itself, making Easter as early as it can be
• The Sun is blank and on Friday will rise due E and set due W
• There are no ISS passes this week
• There are 2 Iridium flares to look out for: On Wednesday at 20.41.02, 44 degrees altitude in E and on Thursday at 21.31.20, 11 degrees altitude in NE

 

Week of 10th March

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter on Friday
• Mars will be less than 2 degrees from the Moon on Saturday
• The Sun remains blank
• There are no ISS evening passes this week. There is another scheduled Shuttle launch STS-123 (Endeavour) on Tuesday morning
• There is one Iridium flare to watch out for on Friday at 19.26.37, 58 degrees altitude in SE

 

Week of 3rd March

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New on Friday and a slender crescent at the start of next week
• The Sun remains blank
• Mercury is close to Venus and with Jupiter, the pre dawn sky just before sunrise is the time for Planet watching. But they are very low in the SE
• There is one very bright Iridium flare to look out for on Thursday at 18.27.07, 55 degrees altitude in S
• There are no evening ISS passes

 

Week of 25th February

 

• The Moon is now waning and will be Last Quarter on Friday
• The Sun remians blank
• Mercury may be seen in the East before sunrise on Tuesday just over a degree North of bright Venus
• There are no ISS passes
• There is one bright iridium flare on Friday at 18.48.15, 54 degrees altitude in SSE

 

Week of 18th February

 

• Monday sees the second in the Green College Public Engagement with Science and Technology Lectures: ‘De-mystifying the night sky’ given by C.E Barclay, Director, Blackett Observatory, Marlborough College, visitor at Oxford Astrophysics. Entry is free. Lecture starts at 6.30pm in E.P. Abraham lecture theatre , Green College on Woodstock Road. In addition, Roberto Trotta (who gave the first lecture) and Charles Barclay will co-host the Bill Heine show on Radio Oxford from 4pm on Monday
• The Moon is waxing and will be Full (Lenten or Storm Moon) on Thursday, when it will undergo a Total Lunar Eclipse (the next one will not be till December 2010). The partial phase of the eclipse will start at 01.43 UT on the morning of Thursday 21st and the Moon will enter the umbra of the Earth’s shadow (start of Totallity) at 03.01 UT with mid eclipse occuruing at 03.26 UT. Totallity will end at 03.51 UT and the Moon wil be back to full brightness at 05.09 UT. If the clear weather holds this might rival the March 4th 2007 Total eclipse, however this one is not really well placed for all but insomniacs!
• The Sun remains blank
• Saturn will reach Opposition next Sunday and with the Moon then to its East will be well placed for observation
• The ISS has left our Oxfordshire skies
• The American spy satellite USA 193 continues to descend and should burn up before the end of March. It is now easily visible as follows (best): On Wednesday at 18.43.18 SSW to ESE reaching 38 degrees altitude. Thursday at 18.36.04, SW to ENE reaching 58 degrees. Friday at 20.01.51 SW to ENE reaching 87 degrees. Saturday at 18.20.46 WSW to NE reaching 65 degrees and Sunday at 18.12.42 WSW to NE reaching 46 degrees
• There are 2 bright Iridium flares to spot this week: On Tuesday at 17.55.02, 44 degrees altitude in S. Wednesday at 19.28.28, 49 degrees altitude in SE

 

Week of 11th February

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter on Thursday when it will also be at Perigee and only just over 370,000 km, this will be a great night for terminator observations
• Mars will be within 2 degrees of the Moon next Saturday
• The Sun is blank again
• The ISS (now bigger and brighter as Shuttle Atlantis is docked and delivering the European Space Agency Columbus laboratory) continues to make passes: On Monday at 18.55.04 W to SSE. The best is on Tuesday at 17.40.40 W to ESE and 19.15.46 W to SSW. Wednesday at 18.01.12 W to ESE and 19.36.57 WSW to SW. Thursday at 18.21.44 W to SE. Friday at 18.42.43 WSW to S and the last on Saturday at 17.48.16 WSW to S
• There are 3 bright evening Iridium flares. On Monday at 18.00.37, 12 degrees in WNW. Tuesday at 17.45.39, 14 degrees in W and Wednesday 17.30.38, 17 degrees in W

 

Week of 4th February

 

• The Moon is waning and will be New on Thursday, we are entering a phase of Sun, Earth, Moon alignment, so it will cause an Annular Solar Eclipse (not visible form UK) and then when Full a Total Lunar Eclipse on 21st February (more details to follow). It should reappear this week in our evening skies as a slender crescent on Saturday
• The small sunspot 982 is breaking up
• Saturn is now reaching 15 degrees altitude around 9pm in SE and in a small telescope it is evident how much the Rings have tilted into our line of sight. They appear more like a band across the Planet
• The ISS makes good passes this week: On Monday at 18.04.57 SW to E. Tuesday 18.25.39 WSW to E. Wednesday 18.46.34 W to ENE. Thursday 17.32.29 WSW to E and 19.07.26 W to WNW. The best is on Friday at 17.53.16 W to E and then 19.28.15 W to W. Saturday 18.14.03 W to E and then Sunday 18.34.47 W to ESE
• There are no bright Iridium flares. However, an American spy satellite USA 193 (launched in 2006 after which control was lost) is decaying in its orbit by some 20km per month and when it reaches 100km altitude will undergo r-eentry. The time and location of this are uncertain. It is visible by eye in the early morning and can best be seen on Monday at 06.45.55 UT WNW to SE reachng 64 degrees altitude

 

Week of 28th January

 

• The Moon is waning and will be Last Quarter on Wednesday
• The Sun remains blank
• Venus and Jupiter are converging in the dawn sky in Sagitarius. On Friday 1st they will be less than a degree appart
• On Tuesday thre is a rare cahnce to see a Near Earth Asteroid 2007 TU34. This ia a rock some 200 – 500m in size which will reach a close approach of some 1.4 LD (Lunar Distances) ie ony about 0.5 Mkm. It should reach Magnitude 10 (possible in small to medium telescopes) and will move from right to left across the top of the Plough (Saucepan) covering some 2 degrees per hour
• The ISS returns to the Oxfordshire skies at the end of the week. On Friday at 18.37.44 SSW to SSE. Saturday at 18.58.19 SW to SSW and Sunday 17.45.13 SSW to E and 19.19.16 WSW to WSW. Next week will see better, brighter passes reaching higher altitude and lasting longer
• There is one bright Iridium flare on Friday at 19.07.33 41 degrees altitude in SE

 

Week of 21st January

 

• The Moon will be Full on Tuesday (Wolf Moon)
• The Sun remains blank
• There are no ISS passes this week
• There are two evening Iridium flares: On Monday at 17.18.01, 68 degrees altitude in NE and on Tuesday at 18.14.27, 37 degrees altitude in S

 

Week of 14th January

 

• The Moon is waxing and will be First Quarter on Tuesday
• The Sun is blank again
• Mars is still very bright and orange and will be within a degree or so of the Moon next Saturday
• Saturn is now back in our evening sky rising just after 20.30 UT in the NE. 5 times dimmer than Mars but discernably slightly yellow
• There are no ISS evening pases this week but there is one bright Iridium flare on Friday at 18.29.31 UT, 36 degrees altitude in SSE

 

Week of 7th January

 

• The Moon will be New on Tuesday and should be visible as a thin crescent on Thursday after sunset
• The Sun has a new spot 981. This is not a usual spot in that not only does it have reversed magnetic polarity but it has also appeared at high latitude. This signals the start of the next solar cycle, number 24
• There are no evening ISS passes this week but there are 2 bright Iridium flares on Monday at 16.29.48 at 72 degrees altitude in E and on Tuesday at 16.23.41 also at 72 degrees in E