Posts Tagged ‘astronomy’
Astronomer or alchemist?
I expect you’ve heard of the Kepler Space Telescope launched by NASA in 2009 to discover Earth-size planets orbiting other stars. It is retired now, but it was named after astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, who was an important figure in the 17th-century scientific revolution.
A chemical analysis of pages from Kepler’s manuscript about the moon has found high levels of metals like gold, silver, mercury and lead. He wasn’t known to study alchemy, but it was still practised in the 16th and 17th centuries, and a close friend of his did study the ancient branch of natural philosophy. Truth be told, most scientists of the era at least dabbled in that area.
Noctilucent blue clouds…
If you live in the northern USA, over the next few weeks you’ll have an unusual opportunity to witness electric-blue clouds in the night sky. You’ll need to look about 1 to 2 hours after sunset or before sunrise. It’s an odd phenomenon, but it’s worth your time. If you miss it, there should be a decent show of them next summer.
Full flower blue moon…
You can see the flower moon this evening — provided, of course, that Mother Nature does not send in a platoon of clouds to obscure the event at your location.. She has done that to me several times in the last year or so, but I hope your luck is better.
Stars or not?
Living in the country does have its advantages, such as being able to step outside my back door and see the stars if the weather permits. The occasional passing vehicle doesn’t contribute much in the way of light pollution. As far as I know, the star count is a British thing, although I’ve heard of a few groups in the US which do the same thing as a sort of weekend getaway project.
While I certainly enjoy being able to watch the night sky, I am made somewhat uncomfortable by things which I can’t identify, such as a large aircraft with no lights on which made no sound as it flew overhead. It was either whisper quiet or was flying much higher than my estimation and was therefore much larger.. It also did not show up on the app on my phone which identifies most commercial planes in the air. Something to ponder….
Super Snow Moon…
Our second supermoon of the year will be Tuesday night, and is so named because there is generally lots of snow around. If you watched the Super Blood Wolf Moon that took place on January 21, you will note this one is even larger and brighter, because it’s closer to Earth. There will be a third and final supermoon on March 21st, so this is a rare year for lunar treats.
Skywatcher alert!
For those of you who share my enthusiasm for watching the skies for celestial events, there will be a total lunar eclipse and a supermoon on Sunday night. Weather permitting in your area, we might have quite a show, so check with your local news station and here for more information.
Perseid meteor shower, 2018
I’m always leary when someone predicts the Perseid Meteor Shower will be great and wonderful, because it seldom lives up to the hype. Apparently the ideal time to watch for the shooting stars is Sunday night through early Monday morning.
if the dim moon the USA is scheduled to have doesn’t entice you to get out, even though there is supposed to be a lot of action this year, you can always watch the event unfold online at one of the sites mentioned in the links.
Given the current heat and humidity at my location, watching from the comfort of my own chair without having to deal with any bugs or weather is becoming ever more appealing…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6047627/Perseids-meteor-shower-brighter-year.html
