Astronomy, The Sky and Outer Space

Just chatter, Astronomy is one of the few areas of life, where events come & go, but for most of us, the night sky now, has all of the same signposts that were there when my ten year old mind was first kindled with interest. The planets have changed position, the word planet meaning wanderer. Instead of my varnished sky map table, with the alma game pieces representing the wanderers, that adorned my boys bedroom, then, I have my fully interactive map on my laptop & kindle. Before light cloud cover arrived, I was looking at Orion this evening, seeing just as it was over sixty years ago. Almost a comfort, with what my daily emotions are facing with my best asset so poorly. As we enter April, the three star belt of Orion, becomes horizontal on clear evenings, just above the horizon, the two bottom stars already below the horizon and by the end of April, the whole constellation will be gone. Not visible again until August, where it appears just before dawn, signalling the end of summer for another year. I do appreciate the internet access to so much scientific info, but it comes at the expense of public arenas. The London planetarium, since 2006 has been a showtime venue, yet it was a packed out spectacle in the sixties & seventies with just the wonders of the universe. I don't need to visit London to see the night sky, it's here in my home.

Evening all, Variable cloud may obscure our evening sky from time to time, but Jupiter is already well visible in the south east sky, almost like a beacon. Those of you with good bins, may be able to make out some of its four largest moons. Once darkness is fully established, Saturn should be visible slightly to the right & lower towards the horizon, but later, both Jupiter & Saturn will be visible for most of the night.

If it is of help, if you type in https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night, you get a live interaction map of the sky. You can swing it around to orientate yourself to see the stars or planets from your viewpoint. I think mine was easier to type in!

I use this - Night Sky Map.

It is the same one

There are also several free apps if you have a tablet, I use one called "goskywatchp".

A recent moon image. Taken in the morning.

There's supposed to be a high chance of aurora this evening although most of us will probably be too far south. If there's a chance, the following link will give an estimate of how possible seeing will be in your bit. Warning - they estimate about 6 this evening might be a good time to look but that last one was hours late and a damp squib. Watch it unfold here by refreshing periodically

These posts are fabulous. Makes me realise what a small blot that I am.

Aurora taking its time again. They can't even blame the clocks going back an hour. 23:45 - building but not significant yet.

Hi all, Last nights clear sky gave a magnificent spectacle of the Orion constellation, best after midnight. The UK winter constellation dominating our skies. Jupiter still shining brightly for most of the evening & early morning.

Just to prove that the aurora does change 100% chance of seeing it - but not here.

Morning all, Friday morning, a partial eclipse of the moon barely visible from Coventry, starts at 6am, just as the moon is setting, disappearing below the horizon. Those with a clear south westerly horizon have the clearest view. It's very partial. Those of you further north get a much better view, providing it's not cloudy.

Five planets alert

Hi all, I watched & listened to Martin John Rees, the current Astronomer Royal, as he was being interviewed on Sky at Night, earlier this week. I was fascinated. Even though much goes against my personal beliefs, it doesn't stop my inquisitive nature from pondering, as well as being able to reason. He himself stated that so much science is constantly having to be rewritten, with increased regularity. At one point, his conversation with the presenter, when talking about the expanding universe, mentioned a considered possibility that there may be many universes. Not just ours. He went on to suggest that the rules of physics may not be the same in other universes as ours that we recognise today. I love reasoning out. During financial audits, it was often after getting inside a clients thought process, that would give access to otherwise unexplained activity, that we were struggling to get to the bottom of. My post here is as a result of my mind trying to come to terms with the weather scenario posting just an hour ago. Coming away from the detail, with all of the current advanced atmospheric technologies, we cannot accurately forecast our weather for just three days ahead. Our weather isn't an end of our universe scenario, most of it is happening within a nine hundred square mile block. The weather presenter in his remarks states that the scientists are following several sets of computer modelling. In no way am I being critical of anyone, simply fascinated, as I'm so aware of my limitations in understanding. Being blunt, I don't believe that I've got past the labels on the tin in my level of understanding. A clear sky as I'm typing this, pondering.