Not visible from Earth since 1226 AD....the "Christmas Star" should be visible this year with good weather....fingers crossed. Please see story:
https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/chris...112121631.html
Jupiter and Saturn Conjunction on December 21st
Not visible from Earth since 1226 AD....the "Christmas Star" should be visible this year with good weather....fingers crossed. Please see story:
https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/chris...112121631.html
Thanks for the heads up, Bill. Being an amateur astronomer with my old fashioned telescope I track both planets (plus Mars) on the eastern part of my horizon daily. Some months ago they were clearly visible and I managed to incite my daughter to be the night sky watcher as well. She used to check if she could see the Gallilean moons and then verify their position around the Jupiter. Great fun!
"We do not stop playing when we get old, but we get old when we stop playing."
I've been watching them get closer the last month. Very impressive, even with the light pollution here.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Some say that the Ancients used to check their sight skills counting the moons of Juno.
"We do not stop playing when we get old, but we get old when we stop playing."
In Boy Scouts, we did this by finding the "Horse and Rider" star in the Big Dipper.Originally Posted by Nightbomber
Karl
Last edited by Jager; 12-13-2020 at 11:55. Reason: sp again!
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
������Big What?...(sorry)
"We do not stop playing when we get old, but we get old when we stop playing."
What we call The Plough in the UK - not sure what you'd call it.
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
In a bit of history, before the American Civil War a spiritual that slaves in the U.S. sang was "Follow the Drinking Gourd." The lyrics were actually an escape route plan -- the "drinikng gourd" was the Big Dipper (as it is known over here). The North Star being the prominent fixture of the constellation-- hence if you kept heading toward it (once you have escaped) it would lead you North to Canada and freedom.
Karl, Andrzej, and Dave -- I started out stargazing when I was much much younger with a book called "Stars by Clock and Fist" -- it caused me to spend many nights exploring the skies. Fond memories....
BTW --- tonight is the Geminid Meteor shower between 9PM and 2 AM in my locale -- I'll be out there again tonight looking up!
Thanks for the tidbit of history & the heads up on the event Bill - hopefully the skies are clear for it & I can find a high point to view it from !
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
In my days in the Astronomy Club @ Poole Grammar school, we used to take out big brass telescope up to the top of Badbury Rings hill fort - there was very little light pollution back then.
When I got my first telescope I used to take it along as well.
I'm sure the darkness has deteriorated since, owing to loads more urban sprawl.
I haven't taken my telescopes out of storage in my attic for many years now - if the weather looks OK for viewing on the 21st perhaps I will.
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
What we call The Plough in the UK - not sure what you'd call it.
Here we call it The Great Wagon
"We do not stop playing when we get old, but we get old when we stop playing."
That's the first place I thought of Tim, it's only a couple of miles from my place and easy to access - though I think Kingston Lacy is having a light event so that might put the Kibosh on it. Tarrant Rushton might work though - I'll have to do a recce.
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Ah, well there you go - we live and learn !
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Interesting Andy. In the 17th century it was known as King Charles' Wain (waggon) and features in verse two of the song " When the King enjoys his own again."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzP_zsf2Sk
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Ha! To make our language research even more interesting about 17th century notions of the sky constellation I can say that although the origin of the current PL name is not known, that century in Poland was marked by the number of Scottish newcomers (mostly soldiers including officers, farmers etc.). One of the many, named Kettling is even an epic hero of a famous XIX century patriotic novel (a great brick-thick book) taking place in XVII during Polish-Turkish wars. We can speculate they could have had brought some knowledge or notions (SONGS?) with them...
"We do not stop playing when we get old, but we get old when we stop playing."
Here is a rendition of the spiritual "Follow the Drinking Gourd" about the Big Dipper and the North Star (the lyrics of which are a map to escaping slavery):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNyhfQ7argU
Yes it has lots of names.
One of the great joys of my life was going out to the SCA Medieval reenactment north of Pittsburg, called the Pennsic Wars.
30 years ago, the night skies had a great river of lights, the Milky Way. I could look at it for hours (esp. if I had a bit of friendly company)
Plus meteor showers, as this was August.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Thank you for telling us about the conjunction, Bill.
Here are a couple of more news stories on the "Great Conjunction" on December 21 visible from Earth for first time in 800 years:
CBS TV:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/jupiter-s...171608855.html
Business Insider:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/jupiter-s...231800104.html
The Telegraph:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/jupiter-s...231800104.html
In case you missed seeing the conjunction -- here are some videos of it from around the world:
https://weather.com/science/space/vi...over-the-world
Thanks for the link! It was cloudy and rainy and I couldn't see a thing. Very disappointing.
Not visible from Dorset in 2020 either ! Cloud and/or rain every evening
Looked great though.
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
My eyelids were closed and I couldn't see a thing! Very disappointed - when I woke up!It was cloudy and rainy and I couldn't see a thing. Very disappointing.
Had a really busy day at work, and when I got home I fell asleep in my armchair; woke up in the wee small hours, and promptly went to bed!
Turn out the weather was horrible, so any effort to find and deploy my telescopes would have been a complete waste of time.
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Here's a shot my sister sent me from NE CalState; much better weather than NE Ohio.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Light pollution aside, the view from here in downtown Las Vegas wasn't too bad.
That is quite nice. Thanks for sharing.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks