Once in a Lifetime
The International Space Station, Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), and the Big Dipper all appeared in the northern sky at the same time for about 90 seconds … Continue readingOnce in a Lifetime
The Milky Way
Almost everything you can see with your naked eye, including you, lives in the Milky Way galaxy … Continue readingThe Milky Way
2017 Eclipse, Part 2
Speaking of time machines, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything. Almost two years, in fact. Time to correct that. Since I mentioned I wasn’t really planning on taking photographs of the 2017 Great North American Eclipse, it was happenstance that I managed to capture some really good snaps through the camera that I did set up. It was placed on a tripod with a tracking mount, set to follow the sun, and take automatic exposures every 5
The Great Eclipse of 2017
August 21, 2017 has come and gone, and WOW what and entrance (and exit) it made! The Great Eclipse of 2017, viewed by people in 14 states, from an airplane, and on boats at sea, this Eclipse Across America was likely the largest viewed, photographed, and media covered single national event that wasn’t man-made. Of course, I had to get in on the action. We raveled to Hopkinsville, KY where two minutes and forty seconds of totality awaited us at
Super Moon 2014
What is a Super Moon? Coined in 1979 in an astrology magazine, the “Super Moon” is simply the full moon (or new moon) that occurs within 90% or closer of its closest possible approach to the Earth during a given orbit. It’s also a lot easier to say than its astronomical term, perigee-syzygy Moon. Today at 2pm Eastren, the full moon will reach perigee just a hair under 220,000 miles from the Earth. It will appear as much as 14%
Time to dust off the Time Machine
This old Astropotamus is about to dust off the Time Machine again. It’s been a while. Please excuse the lateness of my reply, but do start looking for upcoming posts again.
New Tool for Estimating Auroras
NOAA has outdone themselves. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast is a new tool that not only estimates the strength of the current auroral conditions, but how easily they can be seen on the ground, which is where Astropotamus lives. Check it out, and make sure to say thank you to your congressperson the next time that NOAA’s funding comes up for renewal!
Curiosity Rules
I’ll let NASA speak for itself, but I wanted to put the first picture from Curiosity here for all to see:
Exciting Times
Leave it to a comic to put things in perspective. Leave it to a comic to put things in perspective.
More Transit Pictures
Rather than posting them here, I’ve put them on dropbox. You can see pictures of the transit of Venus occurring at the same time as a solar flare (look at about the 7:00-8:00 point on the solar disc) at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gcksdhs0fq9jfeg/Mx44sKE0tr Happy viewing!