January, 2005

Monday, January 31st, 2005
Jupiter and The Moon

Jupiter and The Moon poked through the clouds periodically to provide a sweet view of the morning skies brightest objects. The Moon will continue its trek eastward and hang with Mars on Friday and Saturday... then with Venus on Monday Click here to view previous conjunctions.

At Closest Approach...

Earlier in the morning, the Moon and Jupiter were just slightly more than a degree apart, just within the FOV of our Takahashi at prime focus.  Check out the highest resolution version of this image (~2MB), and in particular the subtle color differences on the Moon.  By increasing the color saturation of this image, these subtleties are exposed...

Sunday, January 30th, 2005
Jupiter and The Moon

Jupiter and The Moon will cross the sky together Monday morning (1/31) in an event known as a conjunction. Look for the pair to rise in the east around 11:15pm Sunday night. By first light on Monday morning, they'll be high and towards the south. Click here to view previous conjunctions.

Saturday, January 29th, 2005
Weekend Aurora Watch

Earth has just entered a high-speed solar wind flowing from a coronal hole. Skywatchers (especially at higher latitudes) should be alert for aurora after dark.

Friday, January 28th, 2005
Details in Saturn's Cloud Top

Containing details reminiscent of the giant planet Jupiter, this Cassini image of Saturn's southern hemisphere shows exquisite details in the ringed planets cloud top. Click here for more details.

Thursday, January 27th, 2005
SOHO 1000^th Comet Contest

Astronomers at the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) recently discovered their 900^th comet. This puts them miles ahead of their next nearest competitor in terms of discoveries. To celebrate, they've started a contest to pick the time of the 1000th discovery.. For more information, and to submit your prediction Checkout SOHO 1000^th Comet.

Wednesday, January 26th, 2005
The Moon Rose...

The Moon was full at 3:33 MST yesterday morning, so that when it rose through light haze and clouds last night, the Wolf Moon was waning gibbous.

Tuesday, January 25th, 2005
Hubble Fate In Question... Again

Facing some tough budgetary issues, the White House announced plans to let the Hubble Telescope die an untimely death.  Checkout Space.com for more information.

Monday, January 24th, 2005
Morning Conjunction

The ringed planet Saturn was joined by an almost Full Moon in the morning sky. Morning is a great time to get out and observe as the giant planet Jupiter is high and towards the south just before sunrise. Click here to view previous alignments. 

Friday, January 21st, 2005
Wolf Moon Approaches

January's Full Moon is known as the Wolf Moon... from a native American naming practice. The moon will be full on Tuesday. Get out there an howl at Earth's nearest celestial neighbor. 

Thursday, January 20th, 2005
Strongest Solar Flare Of Year Recorded

The largest, most powerful solar flare of the year erupted early this morning. At this point, it is unknown if the X7-class event hurled a CME towards us. If it did, skywatchers could be in for a treat when it arrives tomorrow evening. Keep an eye on our Geomagnetic Monitor (right) and Spaceweather.com for more details.

Wednesday, January 19th, 2005
Aurora Watch Continues

Sunspot #720, pictured below, continues to hurl Coronal Mass Ejections into space. The next of these is expected to reach Earth sometime today. Skywatchers are encouraged to keep an eye on the northern horizon after dark. This spectacular shot was taken by Bjorn Jorgensen of Ersfjord, Tromsoe, Norway. Wow!!! Checkout the Aurora Gallery at Spaceweather.com for more incredible images.

Tuesday, January 18th, 2005
Aurora Watch

Sunspot #720 has grown to massive proportions... and is now several times the diameter of Jupiter. This behemoth has hurled several Coronal Mass Ejections (CME's) our way... sparking northern lights in many areas. Skywatchers should be alert for aurora after dark. Checkout Spaceweather.com for more information.

Martian Meteor Found

NASA's Opportunity Rover has found a strange looking rock that astronomers are calling a meteorite on the Martian surface. How did such an object find its way onto the surface of Mars? Checkout Space.com for more details.

Monday, January 17th, 2005
Sights & Sounds of Titan

Pictured here is a mosaic created from some of the first images transmitted by the Huygens Probe during its descent to the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. Checkout Science@NASA for more details.

Sunday, January 16th, 2005
Aurora Watch

A pair of large Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) were detected erupting on the Sun yesterday. The pair appear to be Earth directed and are expected to trigger aurora when they reach us on Sunday and Monday nights. Skywatchers are advised to keep an eye on the northern horizon for the northern lights after dark on both nights. Checkout Spaceweather.com for more information.

Saturday, January 15th, 2005
Color: Titan Orange

Incredible.  From the most distant, controlled spacecraft landing comes a color picture of the rock-strewn surface of Saturn's moon, Titan.  NASA's coverage of the ESA mission has more fascinating information..

Friday, January 14th, 2005
First Images from Titan

The Huygens probe, released by ESA's Cassini orbiter in December, has beamed back images from Saturn's moon, Titan.  Check out NASA's coverage for more info.

Growth of a Sunspot

In only two days time, sunspot #720 has gone from non-existent to over 5 times the size of the Earth. It's rapid growth could usher in a period of increased solar activity. One can only hope.

Thursday, January 13th, 2005
Shaken Not Stirred

James Bond would certainly approve of the naming of this galaxy... The Martini Galaxy. NGC1300, a spectacular barred spiral galaxy seen in this recently released Hubble Space Telescope image, was given this nickname because of the very pronounced bar across its midsection. We're not quite sure we make the connection that closely, but it is an incredible shot, nonetheless. Click here for more details... or here for poster sized images.

Wednesday, January 12th, 2005
Deep Impact To Launch Today

NASA's Deep Impact Mission is set for launch later today. The spacecraft will make contact with Comet Tempel 1 on July 4th... literally. The plan is to slam the Impactor spacecraft into the comet while the Flyby spacecraft looks on. Checkout CNN.com/SPACE for more info.

Huygens Set For Friday Landing

The European Space Agency's Huygens Probe is set for a Friday landing on Saturn's moon Titan. The probe will take about 2 hours to make its way through Titan's atmosphere to the landing site. It will use parachutes to control its fall. During this period, the probe will image the regions outlined on the accompanying map. Checkout the Cassini-Huygens Press Release for more details.

Morning Planets

All of the naked-eye planets can be found in the morning sky. Pictured rising here are the two innermost planets Mercury & Venus, on their way to a tight weekend conjunction with only 1/2° separation.

Tuesday, January 11th, 2005
Black Hole Accelerates Material To Incredible Speeds

Astronomers using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton Satellite have detected some of the fastest moving material imaginable. Traveling at over 20,000 miles per second, hot iron gases are being whipped around a massive black hole. At this speed, we could reach the moon in about 10 seconds. Checkout the Goddard Space Flight Center press release for more details.

Monday, January 10th, 2005
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Prepares For Liftoff

While NASA is still celebrating the success of its Mars Rover Program, another group of engineers is preparing for a mid-summer launch of their own. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will pickup where the rover mission left off. Its goal is to determine how long water existed on the Red Planet.

Sunday, January 9th, 2005
Aurora

They don't call them The Northern Lights for nothing. Far northern skywatchers were treated to a beautiful display of aurora on Friday night (1/7). Brian & Shawn Malone snapped this sweet shot of the lights across the frozen shore of Lake Superior. Checkout the Spaceweather aurora gallery for more incredible shots!

Saturday, January 8th, 2005
Planets In A Row

For the next week or so, the 5 naked-eye visible planets can be found in the morning sky from east to west in their natural order. So.... by the time Mercury rises (currently around 6:30 or so) you can see all the planets known throughout history... Mercury... then Venus... then Mars... then Jupiter... and finally Saturn. Take this opportunity to get acquainted or reacquainted with our nearest celestial neighbors.

Friday, January 7th, 2005
Comet Machholz Passing The Pleiades

Comet Machholz is currently cruising north through the constellation Taurus. It will spend the weekend passing by one of the winter sky’s premier deep sky treats… M45… aka The Pleiades Star Cluster. Resembling a miniaturized version of the famous Big Dipper, The Pleiades is an absolute treat to observe. Easily visible to the naked eye, this brightest of star clusters is simply spectacular in binoculars or a small telescope. Viewing two objects together like this is a treat that won’t soon repeat itself. Checkout this map showing the comet's position throughout January.

The Faintest Ring Details Yet

The orbiting Cassini Spacecraft took this exquisite shot from under Saturn's rings on December 1st, 2004. Note the incredible detail visible in the rings... such as their many fine layers and many faint ringlets. Sharp-eyed observers will even see Saturn's tiny moon Pan within the elusive Encke Gap. Checkout the Cassini-Huygens image library for more details.

Thursday, January 6th, 2005
Cassini Eyes Janus Below The Rings

The orbiting Cassini Spacecraft recently took this sweet shot of Saturn's Moon Janus while cruising below the plane of the giant planets rings. Checkout NASA's Planetary Photo Journal for more details.

Wednesday, January 5th, 2005
Cassini Fly's By Iapetus

On New Year's Eve the orbiting Cassini Spacecraft made a close fly-by of Saturn's strange moon Iapetus. What makes Iapetus so strange? For starters, its looks. Iapetus is Yin Yang all by itself... with one hemisphere being as dark as coal, and the other as white as Park City snow. Checkout the Cassini Press Release for more information.

Tuesday, January 4th, 2005
Happy Birthday, Spirit

It's been a year since NASA's Spirit Rover first landed at Gusev Crater. In that time, it discovered that water once existed on Mars... and exceeded everybody's expectations by continuing to function well beyond its planned lifetime. Checkout this special presentation put together by the folks at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for more details.

Monday, January 3rd, 2005
Sweet Shot!

Paolo Candy of the Cimini Astronomical Observatory, Italy took this beautiful shot of Comet Machholz on January 1st. The comet is very close to its brightest now and delivering some pretty impressive views to observers. Checkout this map showing the comet's position throughout January.

Moon & Jupiter

The Moon and Jupiter posed nicely through some clouds this morning. The Moon will in turn spend time next to Mars on Friday morning and then Mercury & Venus on Saturday morning.

Sunday, January 2nd, 2005
Comet Machholz Takes Center Stage

Skies cleared for several hours last night allowing for some sweet  views of Comet Machholz now an easy naked eye target here in Park City. The comet is now listed as mag4.3... on its way to an estimated mag4.1 or even mag3.x. This awesome shot was taken Jimmy Westlake of Colorado. Note the beautiful greenish color and the delicate ion tail streaming off to the left. Click here for a map to help find it yourself!