Astronomy

[owlice]

Current supernova

Other (comparatively recent) supernovae

[Opus106]

Venus-Pleiades conjunction.



[Source]



[Source]

I just came back from taking a couple of snaps; without tracking but with all the lights (and the lack of patience on my part to sit with an image manipulation program), they're no good.

[Opus106]

Who's up watching the transit?

I will upload my one and only photo (no filters! ) where Venus is visible, in a short while.

[Opus106]

And here it is, in all its unprocessed glory.

[Elgarian]

That's beautifully captured, Navneeth.  Thanks for showing us.

[Opus106]

That's beautifully captured, Navneeth.  Thanks for showing us.

Thanks, Alan. And it's my pleasure to share it with you and others. Any luck in your neck of the woods with regard to sky conditions?

[Elgarian]

Thanks, Alan. And it's my pleasure to share it with you and others. Any luck in your neck of the woods with regard to sky conditions?

Well, it's been perfect weather for studying the underside of dense cloud formations here! (When it stops raining of course.)

[Opus106]

Well, it's been perfect weather for studying the underside of dense cloud formations here! (When it stops raining of course.)

[Lethevich]

"Why do we (NASA, I suppose) waste so much money figuring this crap out? Interesting, yes...useful?......not so much...."

From a comment on this.

-_-

[Opus106]

"Why do we (NASA, I suppose) waste so much money figuring this crap out? Interesting, yes...useful?......not so much...."

From a comment on this.

-_-

What's it about? (Site blocked, due to "adult/mature content". )

[Bogey]

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16969092-hundreds-injured-as-meteor-fireball-screams-across-the-sky-in-russia?lite

Unbelievable!

[Opus106]

Lotsa video links here and here.

[North Star]

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16969092-hundreds-injured-as-meteor-fireball-screams-across-the-sky-in-russia?lite

Unbelievable!

Amazing, indeed! Thanks for sharing.

[Bogey]

The power of cell phones.  Without that technology, doubt if anyone would have caught it on camera.

[Opus106]

The power of cell phones.  Without that technology, doubt if anyone would have caught it on camera.

The large number of videos (which translates to a lot of data in helping find its path) is certainly due to the proliferation mobile/hand-held video cameras and cell-phones, but there have been many previous instances of "ordinary" fireballs which were caught on camera; e.g. by police dash and CCTV cams, and sometimes even by dedicated fireball-watching cams. The latter of course are fixed, but usually have the advantage of having a fish-eye lens. The Russian one made it to the news due to its sheer magnitude and after-effects, the likes of which are relatively rarer. And then there's the darling fireball/meteor train of every astronomy documentary -- the Peekskill Event -- which happened before the mobile era. I have come across this earlier recording attributed to the sports culture in the US (Friday night high-school ('merican) football => lots of parents with video cameras).

[Bogey]

Well, just survived that near miss a bit ago.   They had a live feed from NASA on the radio.

[Wanderer]

Bright Venus and dim Mars stand right next to each other in the western sky tonight. A nice sight.

[Moonfish]

Bright Venus and dim Mars stand right next to each other in the western sky tonight. A nice sight.

Thanks Wanderer! I have been watching Venus at dusk for a while now, but I did not know that Mars was lining up. I will treat the kids to a dual planet sky show tonight!   

[Wanderer]

Thanks Wanderer! I have been watching Venus at dusk for a while now, but I did not know that Mars was lining up. I will treat the kids to a dual planet sky show tonight! 

The Venus-Mars duo is joined tonight by a beautiful waxing crescent moon (a slender 3%). 

[Sean]

I have a theory that astronomy has an aesthetic and mysterious aspect, explaining the correlation between its enthusiasts and those of art music.