Astronomy pictures and stuff

[Mozart]

What the star next to the moon today? I thought it was Mars because it looked reddish but I checked and Mars doesn't rise till the morning. Anyone know what it is?

[orbital]

It was indeed very red for a while. We noticed that too. Looking at it now at 1AM, it is bright again.

[Mozart]

What is?

[orbital]

The moon. It is white again 

[Mozart]

The moon. It is white again 

Lol I didnt say the moon was red I said a star next to it was. The atmosphere makes anything that rises or sets look more red than it actually is. The moon looked that way, the same as a sunset sorta. It also squashes it so things look smaller.

[Steve]

Has anyone tried Google's new product which allows users to view the surface of Mars through satellite images? Its quite impressive. 

[looja]

Has anyone tried Google's new product which allows users to view the surface of Mars through satellite images? Its quite impressive. 

Give me the products name please so I can search it!

[Mozart]

Give me the products name please so I can search it!

I think its called Google mars. Its not as nice as the earth one.

[Wanderer]

What the star next to the moon today? I thought it was Mars because it looked reddish but I checked and Mars doesn't rise till the morning. Anyone know what it is?

You mean the great bright one, or the not-so-bright, flickering, reddish one?
No.1 would be Jupiter, No.2 would be Antares (Alpha Scorpii).

[Bogey]

Not sure about today, but on the 10th Mars should be easy to see (June 10th, 4:30am looking East
View from Indianapolis, Indiana):



Here is the main page:

http://www.dustbunny.com/afk/skymaps/

[Mozart]

You mean the great bright one, or the not-so-bright, flickering, reddish one?
No.1 would be Jupiter, No.2 would be Antares (Alpha Scorpii).

It could have been antares, but it was next to the full moon. Im not sure antares can get that high in the northern hem.


Thanks for the map, now I know it wasn't Mars for sure because it rises so late. This star rose right after sunset with the full moon. Im still curious but its been cloudy everyday so far.

[Wanderer]

It could have been antares, but it was next to the full moon. Im not sure antares can get that high in the northern hem.

It's not Scorpio's position that should trouble you. Rather, current alignments and the moon's orbit have made it's trajectory presently take a more southern route than usual on northern skies. This isn't quite regular and it doesn't happen often.

So, if you're able to tell a planet from a star (thus excluding brilliant Jupiter which was also next to the full moon that night) I believe you were indeed intrigued by Antares. I was stargazing that night, too. 

PS. By confusing it with Mars, you vindicated the name-givers... Antares= rival of Mars (Ares in Greek).

[Mozart]

It's not Scorpio's position that should trouble you. Rather, current alignments and the moon's orbit have made it's trajectory presently take a more southern route than usual on northern skies. This isn't quite regular and it doesn't happen often.

So, if you're able to tell a planet from a star (thus excluding brilliant Jupiter which was also next to the full moon that night) I believe you were indeed intrigued by Antares. I was stargazing that night, too. 

PS. By confusing it with Mars, you vindicated the name-givers... Antares= rival of Mars (Ares in Greek).

Well tonight was the first clear night in awhile and I forgot to look . You're probably right, its just last time I saw Antares from this exact spot it was much lower and more to the south. I'll try again tomorrow.

[Mozart]

That can't be Saturn can it? The star to the right of Venus? It looks to dim to be a planet? I compared it to the north star and it didn't seem much brighter...I might be going blind or something!

[Greta]

Are you guys familiar with the program Stellarium? http://www.stellarium.org/

It's basically a free planetarium on your computer, it even calculates your time and location and shows the exact sky you will see outside. You can turn off constellation outlines and drawings, zoom in on pictures of galaxies and planets, run the time forward or back. Very handy for checking what intrigued you or what's coming up to look out for.

[Bogey]

Are you guys familiar with the program Stellarium? http://www.stellarium.org/

It's basically a free planetarium on your computer, it even calculates your time and location and shows the exact sky you will see outside. You can turn off constellation outlines and drawings, zoom in on pictures of galaxies and planets, run the time forward or back. Very handy for checking what intrigued you or what's coming up to look out for.

Thank you Greta....just downloaded and already having fun with it.