The Double Comet Show of 2004
Two nice comets are currently coursing through the inner solar system.
They will continue to be visible from various latitudes on Earth —
with binoculars, and perhaps with the naked eye — for the next few weeks.
Comets C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) and C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) were discovered in August
2001 and October 2002, respectively, by the automated sky-survey programs
for which they’re named: Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking
(NEAT)
and Lincoln Laboratory Near Earth Asteroid Research
(LINEAR).
More about all this...
First "RoadTrip"
Soon we will try for our first "Road trip" for
darker skies. Chirstina has volunteered to suffer us...hehe
This promises to be a fun time for all.
We will still meet Thursday as always.
Five Planets Visible Across Evening Sky
By MARCIA DUNN, AP
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (March 24) - Five planets are arrayed across the evening sky
in a spectacular night show that won't be back for another three decades.
For the next two weeks, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn -
the five closest planets - should be easily visible at dusk, along with the moon.
''It's semi-unique,'' said Myles Standish, an astronomer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in Pasadena, Calif. ''They're all on the same side of the sun and stretched across the
sky and that's what is kind of pretty.''
Standish missed Monday evening's opportunity, but said Tuesday that he will gaze up
when he walks his dog this week and next. He expects mountains and bright city lights
to hamper his view, however.
The planetary lineup will be visible to the naked eye every night for an hour after
sunset through early April. At the end of the year, the same five planets will
reunite for a few weeks, but in the pre-dawn hours.
Standish said this particular planetary grouping may offer the best nighttime views
until 2036.
The orbits of the five planets take them to the same side of the sun every few years
or so. The conditions have to be just right for all five planets to be clearly
visible at dusk or dawn; Mercury is often tough to catch. Even rarer are so-called
alignments, where the planets are clustered together in the sky; this is not one of
those.
Stargazers should look to the western horizon just after sunset.
Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn will be lined up in the sky with Jupiter close to
the eastern horizon. They will span about 135 degrees. Saturn will be almost
directly overhead.
03-24-04 2028EST
Leo the lion spring constellation takes orion place Winter constellation
Leo the Lion (Spring constellation) begins takes Orion (Winter constellation) spot of
the sky marking the beginning of spring, and the leaving of winter.
Leo is reclining
regulus is his heart (Regulus means "...King")
Leo is only 1/2 degree from the the ecliptic
(the line goeing from sun to moon, moon will be close to it
85 light years away
5x the diameter of our sun, 150x suns brightness
25x futher away than the moon (
high flying low lying orion
Jack stargazer orion up, leo down
Source:
Jack Horkheimer, director of the Miami Planetarium and host of the
PBS series "Star Gazer,"
Jack Horkheimer....Star Gazer
6:00am channel 12
2:30(?)
