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As we're all in need of (non-)Christmas cheer - Christmas has just been cancelled in my area in England due to the mutant - I thought I'd mention this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to all amateur astronomers out there (and possibly get you off your piano stool into the great outdoors and fresh air, as in outside your dwellings):
I've been watching the two through my binoculars (and taken a few photos with the long zoom of my camera) for the past hour, through my window, in between playing my own version of Jupiter and Saturn from The Planets on the piano : the first time I'd actually seen them with my naked eye, in fact. I often gaze at Venus and Mars in the night sky when navigating using Polaris during night hikes, but have never knowingly seen the two biggies before, until today.
And they're getting closer day by day until they (almost) become one on December 21st, so if you have a clear night near the horizon tonight (doesn't matter if it's cloudy overhead), grab the opportunity just after sunset when they're just to the left (i.e. SW) of where the sun sets if you're in the northern hemisphere. Where I live, they were pretty bright to the naked eye even in the blue twilight, when no other celestial bodies were visible other than the moon.
"I don't play accurately - anyone can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life."
Wow, thanks for the info (they are pretty low in the SW night sky)!
I use Stellarium and a pair of 7x50 binoculars. I will never forget how excited I was when I first saw the Pleiades and the Andromeda galaxy. In early November(?) this year I saw the NEOWISE comet.
And imagine that, suppose the Sun is the size of a basketball in your living room in NYC, then the next nearest star will be somewhere in Hawaii (more or less, and the Sun still feels its gravity), that's how empty the space is!
I believe that you'll still be able to see the giants until the end of the year, though after they cross paths, they start diverging in opposite directions .
What happens on New Year's Day is anyone's guess. Probably depends on whether there'll be any fireworks......
"I don't play accurately - anyone can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life."
I saw the pair last night. They were right above Salisbury cathedral as I drove past it. With a beautiful Cresent moon above and to the left. Have been looking tonight but Exmoor was blocking the southern horizon from my location. Hoping for better luck tomorrow.
You can see four of Jupiter's moons through binoculars.
"I don't play accurately - anyone can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life."
Bennevis. Coincidently, I have been listening to The Planets to gain inspiration for my nearly completed project ala Holst. Totally synthesized. Here are my versions of Jupiter, Europa and Io....
....We missed the aurora, the Geminids and now the conjunction....
Maybe not necessarily?? I see that the forecast for tomorrow night is just partly cloudy!
Maybe we'll get a peek afterall!
Well, I guess not, It’s snowing heavily now. High temp today was 59. It rained on and off all day and we had a few sun breaks with rainbows, sleet and now snow. 32 degrees F now. It’s not unusual to have a forecast that includes all that in one day. No conjugation here. 🙁 On the positive side, I LOVE snow! Happy Solstice everyone.
: the first time I'd actually seen them with my naked eye, in fact. I often gaze at Venus and Mars in the night sky when navigating using Polaris during night hikes, but have never knowingly seen the two biggies before, until today.
Yup. We missed the aurora, the Geminids and now the conjunction, but it's green, the air smells wonderful and it's a great place to live.
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