Well here we are in April already. I apologise for my lack of activity of late, lots of things happening around my life at the moment, including injuries, physiotherapy and notably, a burglary. Which, it has to be said, sucked. They got my telescope lenses and our camera.
So Bill is doing awesome work with the tracker at the moment, I wont be shooting for a while :(
Dear Canon NZ, any chance of a free 5D? Mk II will do, I'm not greedy!
In other news, the Hike to the Stars event we all planned and spent money on camping gear to organise was totally cancelled due to the worsening weather, so we're thinking October/November now, or possibly a smaller expedition will happen later, anyone whose interested should watch this space!
Anyways, on to the skies this month, as that's supposed to be the purpose of this post.
Jupiter and Venus will be visible early in the evening sky this month, after being a pair of drama queens last month. Mars is still out and about and getting dimmer and smaller as we pull away from it. Saturn, that beautiful gem, is up in the northern sky and Titan is well visible about 4 ring-diameters from the planet, an awesome site and if you want to see it, come over, and bring your own lenses because I no longer have any :(
The usual suspects are around this month, Crux, Orion, Scorpio, both Magellanic clouds (see Bill's awesome photos),
Mercury makes a good looking morning sky appearance this month, rising due east 2 hours before the sun in the middle of April, in the beginning of the month, it's "only" 95,000,000km from us!
As usual I will be updating the 1200mm Calendar with what I can find this month (Google-Fu pending of course). Speaking of Calendars, I have added some calendars to 1200mm's including: Cassini's tour of the Saturn System,
Oh and the blog got it's 10,000th page view this week! YAY!
Anyways ... keep looking up guys!
Interesting and/or Awesome things!
Showing posts with label Monthly Skies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monthly Skies. Show all posts
April 2, 2012
March 4, 2012
March Skies
A good month coming up!
For us Rodney/Snells Types, lots of LMC and SMC this month, as well as the usual cuplrits of Orion, Crux et Al.
First off, 1200mm has a public Google calendar now, for events (like the hike on 24 March) and general stargazing goodness (Mars in opposition tonight!).
so, March So far:
4 March: Mars in opposition.
8 March: Moon close to Mars, Full Moon
11 March: Moon close to Saturn
14 March: Jupiter and Venus close together
15 March: Last Quarter Moon
20 March: Autumn Equinox, day and night are equal length
23 March: New Moon
24 March: 1200mm Hike to the Stars - if you;d like to come to this, please contact us.
26 March: Crescent Moon close to Jupiter and Venus.
4 March: Mars in opposition.
8 March: Moon close to Mars, Full Moon
11 March: Moon close to Saturn
14 March: Jupiter and Venus close together
15 March: Last Quarter Moon
20 March: Autumn Equinox, day and night are equal length
23 March: New Moon
24 March: 1200mm Hike to the Stars - if you;d like to come to this, please contact us.
26 March: Crescent Moon close to Jupiter and Venus.
For us Rodney/Snells Types, lots of LMC and SMC this month, as well as the usual cuplrits of Orion, Crux et Al.
Looking forward to some good moon and mars viewing!
January 31, 2012
Southern Skies in February
So, what to look forward to this month?
Straight up early in the month, the moon is full on the 8th, which unfortunately coincides with the peak night of the Centaurids meteor shower.
The moon then proceeds to last quarter on the 15th and is new again on the 22nd.
Early in the month, Both Jupiter and Venus will be visible in the west, during the early part of the evening. With Saturn and Mars rising later in the evenings, towards midnight. These planets will continue their dance around the skies this month.
Orion is very visible this month, so some awesome M42 opportunities will be able to be had, 1200mm is thinking of a stack for that one, through the scope on AstroCam 2 :)
The Seven Sisters (Pleiades/Matariki) is also hanging around and is stunning even through a small pair of binoculars.
The 1200mm crew is planning our first star party of 2012 on February 8 to attempt to pierce the full moon's glare and see some Centaurids from the meteor shower.
And finally, there's another small meteor shower (Gamma Normids) starting up on the 25th of February, that will peak in March.
Straight up early in the month, the moon is full on the 8th, which unfortunately coincides with the peak night of the Centaurids meteor shower.
The moon then proceeds to last quarter on the 15th and is new again on the 22nd.
Early in the month, Both Jupiter and Venus will be visible in the west, during the early part of the evening. With Saturn and Mars rising later in the evenings, towards midnight. These planets will continue their dance around the skies this month.
Orion is very visible this month, so some awesome M42 opportunities will be able to be had, 1200mm is thinking of a stack for that one, through the scope on AstroCam 2 :)
The Seven Sisters (Pleiades/Matariki) is also hanging around and is stunning even through a small pair of binoculars.
The 1200mm crew is planning our first star party of 2012 on February 8 to attempt to pierce the full moon's glare and see some Centaurids from the meteor shower.
And finally, there's another small meteor shower (Gamma Normids) starting up on the 25th of February, that will peak in March.
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