Look Out Of Your Window Now! Astronomical events.

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Leonid peak has so far failed to impress - unfortunately I can't really stay up late enough to enjoy the peak of the peak, so one more peek and I'm done.

Leonids always remind me of Christmas Pudding.

And Bordeaux - the city not the vin.

And karaoke.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Transit of the ISS across the face of the Moon - as seen from somewhere around Stoke.


A much better idea of the sheer speed of the thing...


If you fancy a go at it, this predictor will help - http://transit-finder.com/ - but be sure whether you are getting predictions for the Sun or the Moon.



The originator of the video also has some lovely stuff on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ukmjk/sets/72157624922280426 .
 

Laurie61

Well-Known Forumite
I happened to see the ISS pass Jupiter one evening, the station is much bigger in comparison to Jupiter and it was only a glimpse, as it hurtled through the telescopes field of view but impressive none the less.

My instinctive reaction was to jump back from the eyepiece. The impression, left on my retina, was of something resembling a tangle of scaffolding flying past. :lorks:
 

stoofer34

Well-Known Forumite
The Geminid meteor shower.

The phenomenon is set to return for another year on the night of Wednesday, December 13, night, though some meteors could stray into our skies on Tuesday, December 12, and Thursday, December 14.


S
 

YorkshirePud

Well-Known Forumite
The Geminid meteor shower.

S

I saw a nice one on Monday evening just before 11 pm, passing over Orion. There might be another opportunity for some late ones on Friday night, when it is forecast to be clear again, otherwise clouds, clouds, clouds, ...
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
I see that John Young has died - surely the most widely experienced of all astronauts.

John-Young.jpg


One of the many great astronauts born in 1930.
 

age'd parent

50,000th poster!
The ongoing Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment measures the distance between Earth and the Moon using laser ranging. Lasers on Earth are aimed at retroreflectors planted on the Moon during the Apollo program (11, 14, and 15) and the two Lunokhod missions.[1] The time for the reflected light to return is measured.


Apollo 15 LRRR

Apollo 15 LRRR schematic
The first successful tests were carried out in 1962 when a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology succeeded in observing laser pulses reflected from the Moon's surface using a laser with a millisecond pulse length.[2] Similar measurements were obtained later the same year by a Soviet team at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory using a Q-switched ruby laser.[3] Greater accuracy was achieved following the installation of a retroreflector array on July 21, 1969, by the crew of Apollo 11, and two more retroreflector arrays left by the Apollo 14 and Apollo 15 missions have also contributed to the experiment. Successful lunar laser range measurements to the retroreflectors were first reported by the 3.1 m telescope at Lick Observatory, Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories Lunar Ranging Observatory in Arizona, the Pic du Midi Observatory in France, the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, and McDonald Observatory in Texas.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Transit of the ISS across the face of the Moon - as seen from somewhere around Stoke.


A much better idea of the sheer speed of the thing...


If you fancy a go at it, this predictor will help - http://transit-finder.com/ - but be sure whether you are getting predictions for the Sun or the Moon.



The originator of the video also has some lovely stuff on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ukmjk/sets/72157624922280426 .
Another ISS Lunar Transit from the same chap tonight.

27500250_10210949741802751_8768041087596825785_o.jpg
 
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