Posted on by Ken Kremer

Spot the New Space Era as ISS & Dragon Streak Across the Sky – This Week Only !

The New Commercial Space Era Streaks Across the Night Sky - Docked Dragon and International Space Station (ISS) at 4:07 AM EDT near Princeton, NJ on May 26, 2012, less than 24 hours after the Dragon was attached to the Harmony node. 25 sec exposure. Credit: Ken Kremer

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This week and this week only you can see the dawn of the new Commercial Space Era with your own eyes – it’s soaring above your head a mere 400 kilometers (250 miles) away. All you have to do is a quick search, hope for clear skies and traipse outside.

Following the historic attachment of the maiden commercial Dragon cargo carrier to the Harmony node on the International Space Station (ISS) on May 25, the massive orbiting laboratory will be shining just a little bit brighter and prouder as it steaks overhead across the sky at 17,500 MPH (32140 KPH).

Dragon and ISS are literally trailblazing the pathway to the new Commercial Space Era for all to see.

So, for a limited time only between right now and the scheduled May 31 undocking of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the ISS there will be occasional viewing opportunities to catch the dynamic duo speeding merrily across the night time sky.

And the station crew of 6 astronauts and cosmonauts living aboard just opened the hatch from the ISS and “Entered the Dragon” earlier today, May 26 – To make it even more special !

Many folks have never seen an ISS flyover and I can’t think of a better time than now to get started. I’ve held several ISS Sighting star parties in different US States and everyone is thrilled and amazed at how bright the ISS shines – In fact it’s the brightest object in the night sky other than the Sun and the Moon.

Docked Commercial SpaceX Dragon and International Space Station (ISS) streak across the pre dawn sky at 4:07 AM EDT near Princeton, NJ on May 26, 2012, less than 24 hours after the Dragon was attached to the Harmony node. 25 sec exposure. Credit: Ken Kremer

To determine if there are any favorable sighting opportunities in your area, check out the NASA website on Human Spaceflight Sighting Opportunities – here – for a detailed listing of the precise times, elevations, direction and durations. It’s an easy to use viewing guide. Just plug in the particulars of the country in which you live

Another great source is Heaven’s Above – here

ISS streaks over Florida skies at a star party for space enthusiasts around the KSC Quality Inn days prior to SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon blastoff. Credit: Ken Kremer/www.kenkremer.com

Last night I shot some time lapse astrophotos (above) when the gloomy New Jersey clouds finally cleared using a digital SLR and exposure times of 20 to 30 seconds.

Read my eyewitness account of the spectacular pre-dawn May 19 launch of the Dragon resupply vehicle atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida here and the docking here

Now – Go Spot the Dragon and the Station !

and send Ken your blazing Astrophotos to post at Universe Today

Happy Viewing and Clear Skies

Ken Kremer

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Amazing Astrophoto: The Phases of Venus

A montage of Venus from January to May 2012. Credit: Efrain Morales

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Wow! Take a look at how Venus has changed in the night sky the past five months!

“The Planet Venus, The Roman goddess of love and beauty and the closest planet to us — especially now just as it gets closest — will transit across the Sun soon,” said astrophotographer Efrain Morales. “This sequence is a five month transition showing its size continuing to grow and its crescent getting thinner as time progresses.” Venus’ transit of the Sun will be on June 5/6, 2012, depending on your location. This won’t happen again in your lifetime, so don’t miss this opportunity.

Click on the image for a larger version to see all the details. Check out Efrain’s website and Flickr page for more astrophotos.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Eclipse Images from Around the World

A montage of the May 20, 2012 annular eclipse as seen near Ikebukuro in Tokyo, between 7:08 to 7:38 a.m. local time. Credit: Kim Nilsson

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What a view! Here are some awesome eclipse images and videos from around the globe as skywatchers in Asia, the northern Pacific region and western North America experienced the annular eclipse on May 20/21, 2012. Above is a stunning combination of shots from various stages of the eclipse in Tokyo, Japan from Kim Nilsson.

For many of the images, click on them for the original source or for more info/larger sizes. We’ll be adding more images as they come in. If you want to have us add yours to this gallery, post your image to our Flickr group, or send us your images by email.

Thanks also to everyone who joined in on the Virtual Star Party with Phil Plait, Fraser, Jason, Pamela Gay, and Nicole Gugliucci, along with a live telescope feed from Scott Lewis in Los Angeles. If you want to watch a replay, the video is embedded below.

May 20 2012 Solar Eclipse near Sunset Beach / Huntington Beach, CA - timelapse / composition of "phases" of the eclipse during the approximate 2 hour duration. Credit: jimnista on Flickr.
A 'ring of fire' as seen in Arizona, USA. Credit: Robert Sparks (a.k.a. hale_bopp37 on Flickr)
'I love eclipses!' says photographer Linda Judah, who created this composite from pinhole camera observations of the May 20, 2012 annular eclipse, as seen in California, USA.
Screenshot from the live webcast from SLOOH Space Camera.

The SLOOH telescope had a live feed and here’s a screenshot of the ‘ring of fire’ from their webcast.

Eclipse picture from hotel room in Tokyo, Japan taken with iPhone! Credit: Lee Skelton.

This stunningly beautiful images from HadleyRille on YouTube shows how a tree a yard casts eclipse-shaped pinhole projections onto the front of a house:

Eclipse in Dallas, Texas USA from our very own Jason Major.
Tree leaves acting as pinhole cameras projecting tiny eclipse images on the ground at Mt. Lemmon, near Tucson, Arizona USA. Credit: Sifted Reality on Flickr.
'I'm sorry to inform you that Earth is about to be been eaten by a fire demon,' wrote photographer Ben Brockert on Twitter. Ben is an engineer at Armadillo Aerospace.

This video is a compilation of images from Patrick Cullis:

Eclipse image taken through radiography film. Credit: Stefan Bartali.
Eclipse through the clouds in Manhattan Beach, California, USA. Credit:
Eclipse over wheat, at sunset in South Dakota, USA. Credit: Randy Halverson/Dakotalapse.
Annular eclipse on May 20, 2012 as seen in southwest Missouri, USA. Credit: Josh Martin.
An eclipsed Sun in a blaze of glory, as seen in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Credit: Abe Megahed
A hazy eclipse as seen in Manteno, Illinois, USA. Credit: Gerald Meegan.
A series of images taken near Stockton, California, USA, between 16:34 PST, and 19:36 PST. 'I had to move a couple of times to keep it in view and by the time I got to the last picture, it was falling behind trees,' said photographer Jon Ballard.
May 20, 2012 annular eclipse taken in Huntington Beach, CA at 6:09 PM. Smart phone picture using a Galileoscope shining on a piece of white paper. Credit: yzzzguy on Flickr.
Sunspots show up on the eclipsed Sun. Credit: darethehair on Flickr, from Morden, Manitoba, Canada.
Eclipse photo by Bill Dunford (of RidingWithRobots.org) in Utah
A cloudy, blue eclipse as seen in Taipei, May 21, 2012 about 06:20 AM. Credit: sawunggaling on Flickr.
This photo was taken near the Texas-New Mexico border, west of Lubbock, TX. This is near the eclipse maximum, partially obscured by clouds. Credit: Erin Shaw

Here’s a video of a setting eclipse over the Very Large Array in New Mexico (Credit: J. Stoke/J. Hellerman, NRAO/AUI/NSF)

‘I watched the eclipse through a 30 year old Edmund Scientific Astroscan 2000,’ said photographer Keith Nealy from Alameda, California, USA.” I don't have a camera mount, so I just put my iPhone 4S in front of the lens and got an impressionistic shot. I took my telescope out to the street corner near our movie theater. About 75 people looked through it and were awestruck. It was delightful to see all ages and races be amazed. One couple came out of the movie "Avengers." I asked them how they liked the movie and they said the view through the telescope was better.’
Eclipse behind the mountains of the Wupatki Indian Ruins in northern Arizona, USA. Taken with Celestron 3.5 inch with solar filter through a Sony point and shoot digital camera. Credit: Andy Radke
A self-portrait of prolific photographer John Chumack watching the eclipse on May 20, 2012 from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Fun! Eclipse eyes by Alok Singhal.
Taken on a pier in Jack London Square in Oakland, California, USA. Credit: Jessie Edwards of Frivolous Design.

And make sure you check out our Flickr page to see more eclipse and other wonderful images sent in by astrophotographers!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Astrophoto: Lovely Crescent Venus by John Chumack

A beautiful crescent Venus on May 14, 2012. Credit: John Chumack.

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Named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus has never looked more gorgeous! Prolific and accomplished astrophotographer John Chumack captured this shot of a crescent Venus on May 14, 2012 as it moves in for a transit of the Sun. Just 14% of Venus’ face was illuminated, 22 Days before the June 5th Transit of Venus across the Sun. John used a DMK 21AF04 fire-wire Camera, 2x Barlow, & 10″ SCT telescope, and used 950 frames stacked to create this image. Thanks to John for sharing his image; see more of his work at his website, Galactic Images.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Ring of Fire! Annular Solar Eclipse on May 20

As the solar eclipse on May 20th progresses, its partial and annular phases will look very similar to this eclipse on May 10, 1994. Photo by Fred Espenak/SkyandTelescope.com.

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There’s a great reason to look up this weekend and hope for clear skies! On May 20-21 an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from a 300 kilometer-wide track that crosses eastern Asia, the northern Pacific Ocean and the western United States. An annular eclipse means the Moon will not cover the Sun completely, and so when the Moon is directly in front of the Sun, there will be a bright ring of visible light on the surrounding edges, creating a so-called ‘ring of fire.’ The eclipse begins at 20:56 UTC (16:56 EDT US time) on May 20, and ends at 02:49 UTC May 21 (22:49 on May 20 EDT).

Not in that swath? See the map below, but you may be able to see a partial eclipse if you are in Asia, the Pacific and the western two-thirds of North America.

A map of the area where the annular eclipse can be seen. The dark strip in the center indicates the best locations for viewing the eclipse. The eclipse is also visible in the areas that are shaded red, but less of the Sun's disk is obscured. The fainter the red shading the less of the Sun's disk is covered during the eclipse. Click on this image for an interactive map from TimeandDate.com

Still not in the path of the Sun during that time? There will be several webcasts, including one from SLOOH, and more from Hong Kong, the summit of Mt. Fuji in Japan, and Area 51 in Nevada USA (no alien spaceships will be seen in this webcast, guaranteed.)

An important note if you ARE in an area where you can see the eclipse. DO NOT look directly at the Sun, and especially do not look through a telescope or binoculars at the Sun with your eyes directly. That ‘ring of fire’ will indeed burn, burn, burn your retinas, and could cause serious and permanent eye damage. There are special eclipse glasses, or you can make your own eclipse viewers. Mr. Eclipse has a whole list with instructions for pinhole cameras, and other safe viewing methods. If you have a telescope, the folks from Galileoscope have instructions for how to build a Sun-funnel for safe viewing

We posted an article last week about special eclipse glasses you can purchase, but you might be running out of time to buy them.

If you take any images of the eclipse (again, know what you are doing and be careful!) please share them with us via our Flickr page, or send them in via email. We’ll have a grand eclipse gallery of images from around the world!

Some of the spacecraft will also be observing the eclipse and will provide images and movies, such as the JAXA/NASA Hinode mission. You will be able to see the images and videos here, and as an added bonus Hinode’s X-ray Telescope will be able to provide images of the peaks and valleys of the lunar surface.

Unfortunately, the orbits the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), and the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) will not provide them with a view of the eclipse.

You can see more eclipse information from Sky and Telescope, NASA and TimeandDate.com

The next solar eclipse will be the total solar eclipse on November 13, 2012.

Here’s a video from NASA:

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

See the Winners of the Earth & Sky Photo Contest

“Stars above Innsbruck” by Norbert Span, Austria. Winning photo from the 2012 Earth & Sky contest.

Enjoy this delightful video put together by Babak Tafreshi from The World At Night showing the winners of the third International Earth and Sky Photo Contest. With the theme of ‘Dark Skies Importance,’ these are lovely landscape astrophotos, “ in appreciation of the night sky beauty as an essential element of our nature, importance of preserving dark skies, and public awareness on the growing threat of light pollution,” Tafreshi said.

The organizers of the contest were the TWAN group along with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, emphasizing Global Astronomy Month (April) and the contest was part of the Dark Skies Awareness project. The 2012 contest submission period was during the month of April, and submissions were to be in the “TWAN style” of landscape astrophotography — combining elements of the night sky set in the backdrop of the Earth horizon with a notable location or landmark.

Here’s the winning photograph by Norbert Span from Austria, “Stars Above Innsbruck:”

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You can all the images here.

The contest is open to anyone of any age, anywhere around the world. Interested in entering this contest next year? Check out the contest info page.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Astrophoto: Meteor Fireball Passing through the Milky Way

A northern Minnesota lake reflects a large meteor fireball. Credit: Luke Arens.

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Northern Minnesota is famous for its bountiful lakes, and clear, dark skies. This beautiful astrophoto combines both — and more — as photographer Luke Arens captured a big meteor fireball reflecting off a northern Minnesota lake just as the Milky Way core rose above the scene. Luke took this image over the weekend as part of a timelapse sequence, which he says will be available soon. Update: see the timelapse below!

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Big Sunspot; Little Chinese Space Station

First image of a solar transit of Tiangong-1, the first module of the Chinese space station, taken from Southern France on May 11th 2012. Credit: Thierry Legault. Used by permission.

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Astrophotographer extraordinaire Thierry Legault has made a name for himself with his images of spacecraft transiting across the face of the Sun. He has done it again by capturing the first-ever image of the Tiangong-1 space station transiting the Sun. The monster sunspot, AR 1476 absolutely dwarfs the Chinese space station (inside the circle), but you can see incredible details of the Tiangong-1 below in a zoomed-in version. Legault had less than a second to capture the event, with the Tiangong traveling at 7.4km/s (26500 km/h or 16500 mph,) the transit duration was only 0.9 seconds! The size of the station is pretty small — as without solar panels the first module of the Tiangong measures just 10.3 x 3.3 meters.

Zoomed and cropped version of the first image of a solar transit of Tiangong-1, the first module of the Chinese space station, taken from Southern France on May 11th 2012. Credit: Thierry Legault. Used by permission. Inset: CNSA.

Legault’s equipment was a Takahashi FSQ-106 refractor, a Baader Herschel prism and Canon 5D Mark II camera. Exposure of 1/8000s at 100 ISO.

As Legault told us in an interview earlier this year, in order to capture such images he studies maps, uses CalSky software, and has a radio synchronized watch to know very accurately when the transit event will happen.

“My camera has a continuous shuttering for 4 seconds, so I begin the sequence 2 seconds before the calculated time,” he said. “I don’t look through the camera – I never see the space station when it appears, I am just looking at my watch!”

For a transit event, he gets a total of 16 images – 4 images every second, and only after he enlarges the images will he know if he succeeded or not.

“There is a kind of feeling that is short and intense — an adrenaline rush!” Legault said. “I suppose it is much like participating in a sport, but the feeling is addictive.”

Thanks to Thierry for sharing his latest success, and you can see larger versions of these images, and much more at his website.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Your ‘Supermoon’ Images from Around the World

San Souci lighthouse and the perigee Moon, in the Dominican Republic. Credit: Goku Abreu.

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We asked for ’em, and you sent ’em in: here are great images of the perigee Moon on May 5, 2012, the largest full Moon of the year taken by our readers.

The perigee Moon as seen in Opelika, Alabama USA. Credit: Jacob Marchio.
The Supermoon on a finger, as seen in Aguilas, Murcia Spain. Credit: Tapani Isomäki
An artist's view of the 'Supermoon.' Credit: Omer Sidat.
Largest Full Moon for 2012 from Dayton, Ohio USA. Credit: John Chumack.
Perigee Moon on May 5, 2012 from Altamonte Springs, Florida USA. Credit: Austin Russie.
A shy supermoon from Brick Landing, North Carolina USA. Credit: Tavi Greiner.
The supermoon from Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Credit: jimctu on Flickr
Preparing for a Supermoon, on May 3, 2012 from Wauseon, Ohio. Credit: Bill Schlosser.
A lovely Moonrise at Soldier's Beach off the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Credit: Kerry Middlemiss
'Taken from the Marin Headlands with about 573 other photographer friends. I used my Orion ED Refractor telescope for a lens,' said photographer Ted Judah.
Supermoon over the Pacific, taken at Goblets Beach in Santa Barbara, California, USA. Credit: Jonathan Vail.
Full Super Moon rising over UC Berkeley Sather Tower Campanile and International House. Credit: Ira Serkes.
Super full Moon over Tucson, Arizona, USA. Credit: 'Sifted Reality' on Flickr.
Digiscope of the 2012 Supermoon, São Paulo, Brazil. Credit: Monica, 'MoniBR' on Flickr.
The perigee full Moon from Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA. Credit: Jamie Rich.
The perigee Moon from Toronto, Canada. Credit: Rick Ellis.
The Moon on May 6, 2012 in Mandan, North Dakota, USA. Credit: Jola Boehm

And speaking of images from ‘around the world,’ here’s one from the International Space Station:

The perigee full Moon on May 5, 2012, as seen through Earth’s atmosphere, which bends the light from the Moon, making it appear squished. Credit: Andre Kuipers/ESA/NASA

Thanks to everyone who sent in their images and posted them to our Flickr page. See more images and find more from our contributors at Universe Today’s Flickr page.

Posted on by Tammy Plotner

2012 Venus Transit – The Countdown Is On!

Venus 34 Days Before 2012 Transit - Credit: John Chumack

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Head outside on any clear night this week and you won’t be able to miss brilliant Venus decorating the western horizon. Right now it’s surrounded by a host of bright winter stars like Capella, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran and the Pleiades. But, don’t stop there. Use any type of optical aid and you’ll see the planet is in the crescent phase right now and bigger than Jupiter in apparent size!

There’s a lot of things to know about viewing Venus. Oddly enough, the smaller the phase, the more brightly it shines. If you cannot see its slender form for the glare, simply try wearing sunglasses while using your binoculars… or stacking dark filters, such as green and blue, for the telescope eyepiece. While you’d think that something which sparkles and shines like Venus would be very exciting to see magnified, it’s actually pretty bland. However, don’t let rather ordinary appearances fool you. Behind that “girl next door” exterior is a really radical chick. Beneath the bland clouds runaway greenhouse gases heat things up to 860 degrees Fahrenheit (460 degrees Celsius) and volcanoes rule.

Keep on watching Venus. Right now she’s headed towards Earth and the pinnacle of observing excitement – the Transit. It will continue to grow larger in apparent size and the crescent phase will narrow even more. On June 5 (June 6 in Australia and Asia), it will pass between the Earth and Sun… an event which only happens about twice in a century and won’t happen again until the year 2117!

Venus Transit Sequence 2004 - Credt: John Chumack

The clock is ticking and now is the time to begin your preparations to view the transit of Venus. Do not wait until just a few days before the event to choose a location for your observations. If you do, you might find yourself faced with clouds… an obstruction you hadn’t planned on… getting permission to be in a certain area… or many other things. Knowing exactly where the Sun will be during the transit means a relaxed experience!

As of now, you’re going to find it will be very difficult to locate solar filters for particular telescopes – and waiting any longer may mean not having one at all. Because the transit of Venus is such a rare event, many retailers are carrying special eclipse/transit viewing glasses. They will appear much like the cardboard 3D glasses you get at the movie theatre, but instead of red and blue lenses, they will have either black mylar or Baader filter film. These glasses are safe for solar viewing, but there are a few things you must understand about them. Before you view, please inspect the edges carefully to make sure they are sealed and no sunlight can enter. Even more importantly, do not use them in conjunction with binoculars or a telescope. Eclipse glasses were meant strictly for use with your eyes. Concentrating sunlight with an optical aid and hoping the glasses will be enough to block the Sun’s harmful rays is taking a chance at blinding yourself. Always use approved solar filter material when viewing with telescopes or binoculars and always supervise when children are present.

Venus Transit 2004 - Credit: John Chumack

The next tip for viewing the Venus transit has to do with photography. If you plan on filming or photographing the event through a telescope, now is the time to practice. Do not wait until just a few days before the event to be sure your video equipment is working properly – or that your camera is prepared. Start now by taking practice pictures of the Sun and make sure you have spare batteries or a power supply on hand for the day of the event. Nothing is more disappointing than being ready to photograph an astronomical event and having your equipment fail at the last second. It’s always wise to have a back-up option… such as a cell phone camera, spare pocket camera, or even a camcorder handy just in case. All of these will work afocally. If you practice in advance, you’ll find you can take quite satisfactory photos by just holding the camera to a properly filtered telescope eyepiece.

The last tip for viewing the Venus transit is time. Make sure well in advance of exactly what time the transit starts in your area! The local transit times page by Steven van Roode and Francois Mignard is an excellent resource. But don’t forget… the times are given on an astronomical standard – Universal Time. If you are unsure of how to convert, try the Time Zone Converter to assist you.

The clock is ticking… Be ready!