Archive for the 'Astronomical Events' Category

Mars As Big As Moon – Never

Published on August 28, 2010 in Astronomical Events. View Comments Tags: , .
Taken by Ron Dantowiz

This image was taken at 24 July 2003 by Ron Dantowiz and it was clear that Mars was by no means as BIG as Moon


MARK YOUR DIARY/CALENDAR

ONLY ONCE IN YOUR LIFETIME

Two moons on 27th August 2010 .

Truncated…

It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles off earth.

Truncated…

It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.

Many have received this email about the imminent great astronomical scene of the Mars which is claimed to happen tonight and to be as big as our Moon. The email is only right about one things – the distance.

Please let me crack this myth step-by-step if you allow me.

This so-called Mars hoax started since 2003 when Mars was closest to Earth in this century at 27th August 2003 where the distance was only 55 million km, the nearest in 60,000 years. During that time, Mars would look about 75 times smaller than the Moon. According to Science@NASA, in 2003, someone reasoned that if you put in a 75x eyepiece into your telescope, Mars would look as big as the full Moon as to the naked eyes.

What happened next was that someone who decided to pass this message around was a bit lazy and truncated the magnification part and the year. And the result was “It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 ……” which is what you received in your inbox.

So I hope that you are now clear about this fuss. A picture worths thousand words. Check out the photo below to get a better idea of the sizes of Mars and Moon.


The Moon, Venus and Mars by F.Espenak

Moon at the middle of picture, to its one o'clock is Venus and to its five o'clock is Mars.


The only advantage I can think of this message is that it encourages people to get out from their sealed room and check out the gorgeous night skies.

Further reading:  The Mutating Mars Hoax at Science@NASA, Distance From Earth to Mars @ Universe Today

MUST WATCH: Sun in HD

Published on April 23, 2010 in Astro Video and Solar. View Comments Tags: .

Jaw dropping high defination prominence on Sun captured by NASA SDO (Hubble for the Sun)

NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has beamed back jaw-dropping images of the sun and they have been released on 21 Apr 2010. There is a video with the prominence above in high definition (HD) at First Light of the Solar Dynamics Observatory which you must not miss. Even experienced solar physicists said that they learned new things by just watching the videos.

There are also videos showing solar flare and magnetic field on the sun surface.

Offtopic: Talking about HD, the hype is almost everywhere. Sooner or later, there might be HD eyepieces, HD mounts, HD bla bla bla…

Orionids 2009

Published on October 20, 2009 in Meteor Shower. View Comments Tags: , .

skymap_orionids_northWhat does the third week of October mean to us? Yes, as indicated by the title, the earth is passing through the debris stream left by the Halley Comet. As a result, earthlings get the chance to watch the spectacular Orionids. The rate is about 60 meteors per hour.

As usual, the best time to watch meteor shower is before the dawn.  This year is especially good since the moon is almost new, no moon light will interfere the show. As you get under the night sky, you will notice that the winter constellations (for northern hemisphere) are up which makes the sky spectacular again. For example, Orion, Gemini and Taurus. *I love winter celestial objects the most, especiall the Great Orion Nebula.

Set your alarm and enjoy the shower.

Continue reading ‘Orionids 2009′

Why is Astronomy important? Spoke the UK Minister of Science

Published on May 2, 2009 in Astro Video, Astronomy and IYA2009. View Comments Tags: , .

The UK Minister for Science, Lord Drayson, gave an opening address at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science meeting held last week at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. The Minister spoke to Astronomy Now, an IYA2009 Media Partner, about why he thinks astronomy is important.

Source：IYA2009 Official Website

April 22nd Lyrid Meteor Shower

Published on April 22, 2009 in Meteor Shower. View Comments Tags: , .

On 22nd April 2009, Earth will pass through a debris stream left by the Comet Thatcher. Thus, we are presented the Lyrid Meteor Shower. The peak of Lyrid Meteor Shower is predicted to be 10-20 meteors per hour. Howerver, the number could increase by five- to ten-fold as the Comet Thatcher’s tail has never been mapped in detail. Therefore, there lies a possibility that an outburst will happen. This has happened in 1982 when observers counted 90 lyrids per hour.

When to watch? As usual, the best time to watch is before the dawn or sunrise at around 4am to 5am. Good luck!

Kluang 100 Hours Star Party

Published on April 3, 2009 in Amateur Astronomers, IYA2009, Public Outreach and Sidewalk Astronomy. View Comments Tags: , , , .

Table of contents for Kluang 100 Hours Star Party

  1. Kluang 100 Hours Star Party
  2. Night 1: GIANT, Sri Kluang
  3. Night 2: Kluang Mall

In celebration of International Year of Astronomy 2009, we, the Kluang amateur astronomers have gathered to organise one of the greatest star party in the name of 100 Hours of Astronomy during the first weekend of April.

Below is the venue and the date. All the starparties start from 8.00pm and end on 10.30pm.

  • 3 April – Giant Superstore, Taman Sri Kluang
  • 4 April – Kluang Mall Entrance
  • 5 April – Kluang Mall Rooftop Carpark

What are we going to observe? The famous ring planet – Saturn, Great Orion Nebula where the new stars are born, the seven sisters – Pleaides, the brightest star – Sirius, our Earth very best friend – the Moon and more!

The telescopes serving your eyeballs during this weekend are 8″ Meade LX90, Orion SkyQuest XT8i, Celestron Celestar 8 and a few little refractors. Join us tonight and make it a memorable night!

Next in series