December, 2004

Friday, December 31st, 2004
Quadrantid Meteor Shower To Peak Monday Morning

The annual Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks Monday morning around 5:30am (MST). This is perfect timing for us here in Park City. Skies are still dark and its not such an ungodly hour that people can't wake up for it ;-) The Quadrantids are one of the better meteors showers... producing 50 - 100 meteors per hour during its very compressed peak. The peak lasts but a few hours... so don't stray too far from the time above. Midnight to sunrise will see the vast majority of Quadrantid meteors. Let's hope for clear skies.

Thursday, December 30th, 2004
Weekend Aurora Watch

Solar activity has once again resumed. Sunspot #715 is rolling into view and launching Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) left and right. The reason? A large and twisted magnetic field surrounds the sunspot. Astronomers are estimating the chance of a large, X-Class CME at around 10%. If this occurs, there's a pretty good chance that aurora could occur this weekend. Skywatchers are advised to keep an eye on the northern horizon after dark this weekend.

Wednesday, December 29th, 2004
Giant Telescope To Search For Extrasolar Planets

MIT astrophysicists got a new toy for Christmas... a 25 meter telescope. They'll use the incredible resolving power of the Giant Magellan Telescope to search for planets orbiting other stars. Checkout SpaceDaily.com for more details.

Tuesday, December 28th, 2004
Earth Impact Ruled Out

Several months of careful observation have ruled out an Earth impact in 2029 by asteroid 2004 MN4. Instead, it will pass by harmlessly. Checkout the Near Earth Object Program for more details.

Monday, December 27th, 2004
Morning Planets

Head out before the sun rises and you can see all 5 naked eye planets. Captured here are Mercury and Venus. Mars is just out of the picture to the right. Jupiter is almost overhead and Saturn is sinking in the west.

Saturday, December 25th, 2004
Cassini Looks Across Saturn's Rings

The Cassini Spacecraft recently took this exquisite shot across Saturn's rings. Wow! Saturn is now rising before 7pm here in Park City. This has the ringed wonder well placed for viewing at night. So, get out and point your scope towards the 6th planet... or click here for some more incredible Cassini shots.

Friday, December 24th, 2004
Cassini To Release Huygens Probe Today

The Cassini Spacecraft is set to release the Huygens Probe today. Huygens will decend through Titan's atmosphere and attempt to land on its surface. It'll take pictures and measurements along the way. Checkout the Cassini Website for more details on the historic event.

Thursday, December 23rd, 2004
Infrared Orion

This incredible shot of the famous Orion Nebula was taken by the worlds most powerful infrared camera, the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii. It's incredibly wide field of view allows it to survey vast areas of the sky. Checkout the PPARC Press Release for all the details. Also, be sure to click on the image to view it in all its glory!

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2004
Massive Galaxies Are Still Forming

Most theories on galactic evolution assumed that all the massive galaxies were formed early. Armed with data from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, astronomers are rewriting those theories. Newborn galaxies, formed within the last 100 million years or so, have been found nearby Checkout NASA News for more details.

Tuesday, December 21st, 2004
Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice arrived today at 5:42(mst). This marks the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere. The accompanying image captures sunrise from solstice to solstice. Note how far the sun travels in the sky from season to season.

Monday, December 20th, 2004
Next Stop, Titan

The orbiting Cassini Spacecraft is set to release the Huygens Probe in a few days. The probe will descend through the clouds of Saturn's largest moon Titan and attempt to land on its surface. Click here to visit the Cassini-Huygens website and read all about it.

Sunday, December 19th, 2004
Comet Machholz Continues To Brighten

Comet Machholz is now a naked eye target from Park City... showing itself to the unaided eye on our last several outings. The comet is now listed as mag4.9... on its way to an estimated mag4 or even mag3. This shot was taken by Utah Skies own Don Brown.

Saturday, December 18th, 2004
Mars Rover Mission Recognized as Breakthrough of the Year

Citing the discovery of Mars' watery past, Science Magazine has named NASA's Mars Rover Mover mission as Breakthrough of the Year.  Checkout the Cornell Press Release for more details.

Friday, December 17th, 2004
Supernova Detected

Astronomers have detected a supernova in a nearby spiral galaxy (NGC2403). Located in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis, the beacon is currently blocking out surrounding nebulosity. Checkout this NOAO Press Release for more details.

Thursday, December 16th, 2004
Colorful Tarantula

The Tarantula Nebula is the most prolific star factory known. Using PhotoShop and some readily available images, an amateur astronomer has created this incredible mosaic.. Checkout the ESA Website for more details on this incredible image..

Wednesday, December 15th, 2004
Titanic Rendezvous

The orbiting Cassini Spacecraft recently took this image revealing some clouds and surface detail on Saturn's moon Titan. Checkout the Cassini Press Release for more details.

Tuesday, December 14th, 2004
Comet Machholz

At mag5, Comet Machholz can easily be found cruising along the southwestern edge of Orion... just below and to the right the bright star Rigel. This image of Machholz was taken while watching the Geminid Meteors. Machholz is expected to brighten to between mag 3 & 4... easily naked eye visible and beautiful in binoculars or a small telescope. Click here for ephemeris.

Monday, December 13th, 2004
The Geminids Are Coming

Utah Skies member Brian Jolley braved some cold temperatures to snag this shot of a Geminid Meteor in the wee hours of Monday morning (12/13). More Geminids can be seen tonight when the second, larger peak occurs.

Sunday, December 12th, 2004
Comets & Meteors

The annual Geminid Meteor Shower is upon us. Skywatchers can expect two peaks... one on Monday morning, the other on Monday night. Those of you out Monday night have an added bonus... Comet Machholz is currently cruising along the southwestern edge of the constellation Orion. Nearing mag5, Machholz is an easy target for binoculars. This gorgeous shot was taken by Adam Block at Kitt Peak National Observatory

Saturday, December 11th, 2004
Introducing Comet Machholz

We're set to finish the year with yet another naked-eye visible comet... comet C-2004Q2(Machholz)... bringing the total to 4. Not to shabby. Discovered this past August at mag11, Machholz has brightened considerably and is now approaching mag 5... naked eye visible under dark skies. The comet is expected to brighten to about mag4 in early January as it cruises north along the western edge of Orion. This is a perfect location for northern skywatchers to follow its progress. Click here for a map to help you locate it. Then checkout Cometography.com for all the details. This gorgeous false-color shot was taken by Dan Duriscoe of The National Park Service.

Friday, December 10th, 2004
Geminid Meteor Shower To Peak

The peak of the annual Geminid Meteor Shower is upon us. The Geminids are probably the best meteor shower of the year in terms of actual number of meteors to be seen. Beginning this weekend and culminating on Tuesday morning, skywatchers can see the most reliable meteor shower of the year grow to produce its typical 50 & 100 meteors per hour. The Geminids rarely disappoint. This beautiful star trail and meteor shot was taken by Jimmy Westlake. 

Thursday, December 9th, 2004
C Ring Details

The Cassini Spacecraft (as expected) continues to send back absolutely gorgeous shots of The Solar System's most beautiful planet... Saturn. Look at the incredible detail in this image of Saturn's C Ring... then Checkout the Cassini website for all the details.

Wednesday, December 8th, 2004
F Ring Dances

Astronomers using the Cassini Spacecraft have captured some incredible images of Saturn's elusive F-Ring. In an animation of the series of the images, you can clearly see variations and movement throughout the slender ring. Checkout the Cassini website for more details.. or click here to watch the movie!

Tuesday, December 7th, 2004
Moon Occults Jupiter

Early this morning (12/7), skywatchers were treated to a very special event as a waning crescent moon occulted (drifted in front of) the planet Jupiter. This gorgeous shot was taken by Ron Wayman in Tampa, Florida. The event was a washout here in Park City due to heavy cloud cover. But, don't fret... just follow the link and checkout the Spaceweather.com Image Gallery

Monday, December 6th, 2004
Moon To Occult Jupiter

Early tomorrow morning (12/7), skywatchers will get to see waning crescent moon occult (drift in front of) the planet Jupiter. The event will favor viewers in the eastern part of the United States and Canada. Utah residents will get to see Jupiter reappear around 2:40am. Checkout Science@NASA for more information and times in your area.

Monday Morning Conjunction

The planets Venus and Mars reached conjunction this morning (12/6). The pair passed just under 1.2° apart... well within the wide angle field of view of most telescopes or binoculars. Click here for a closeup, then checkout our Conjunctions and Alignments pages for more pics.

Sunday, December 5th, 2004
Monday Morning Conjunction

The planets Venus and Mars will reach conjunction on Monday (12/6). The pair will pass just under 1.2° apart. This is well within the wide angle field of view of most telescopes. Checkout two of our closest celestial neighbors having a party without us ;-) 
Checkout our Conjunctions and Alignments pages for more pics.

Saturday, December 4th, 2004
Aurora Watch
A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is heading our way... and is expected to arrive later tonight. Skywatchers should remain alert for aurora throughout the night.. Checkout Spaceweather.com for more info... or click here to watch the movie.

Friday, December 3rd, 2004
Report: Mars Was Wet

After studying data returned by the twin Mars Rovers, the conclusion reached was that Mars was once very wet... and possibly habitable. This conclusion has passed rigorous scientific review. Checkout this Cornell University Press Release for more information.

Thursday, December 2nd, 2004
Park City Sundogs

Clear, cold winter mornings are a fine time to witness (and image) sundogs. A phenomenon caused by reflection of sunlight off of ice crystals in the air, these beautiful events are somewhat rare.

University of Utah Physicist Uses Supercomputer to
Simulate Ancient Star/Solar System Encounter

Computer simulations by physicist Ben Bromley of the University of Utah show a close encounter with a passing star about 4 billion years ago may have given our solar system its abrupt edge and put small, alien worlds into distant orbits around our sun. Check out the SpaceflightNow article for more details.

Wednesday, December 1st, 2004
Hubble Discovers Youngest Galaxy

Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have measured the age of what may be the youngest galaxy ever seen in the universe. By cosmological standards it is a mere toddler seemingly out of place among the grown-up galaxies around it. Check out the Hubble news release for more info.

Moon To Occult Jupiter

On Tuesday morning, skywatchers will get to see waning crescent moon occult (drift in front of ) the planet Jupiter. The event will favor viewers in the eastern part of the United States and Canada. Checkout Science@NASA for more information and times in your area.