For Skywatchers, Astrophiles, and Sun Lovers...

[LuckyDeutch]

Thank you  I will try it to see if I can get my pictures on here. here I  go! Wish me luck!   

[Delphyne]

Thank you  I will try it to see if I can get my pictures on here. here I  go! Wish me luck!   

I would love to see them.      

[Delphyne]

Tomorrow, March 20th, the sun crosses the celestial equator heading north. This marks the beginning of Spring in the northern hemisphere and Autumn in the southern hemisphere. At this time of year, day and night are of nearly equal length, hence the name "equinox" (equal night).


Equinoxes and Solstices are always determined by the position of the Earth relative to the sun.

[Delphyne]

This is a totally neat video!  NASA has a number of satellites in orbit.  The STEREO satellites watch the Sun.  Well, the Comet Panstarrs flew in between the sun and the earth and STEREO caught it.

This video shows the sun on the left (which will produce a couple coronal mass ejections), Panstarrs coming up the middle, and the earth on the right (just a wee dot).



Watch Video of Panstarrs here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHL7H1f5LOs

[bhiett]

The night of the "super moon" I stayed outdoors after midnight to get the full effect.  It was amazing!  At 12:30 a.m. in a normally dark yard I could see shadows of everything in my yard including myself.  I took pictures but they really do not show the intensity of the moon's brightness.

[Delphyne]

The night of the "super moon" I stayed outdoors after midnight to get the full effect.  It was amazing!  At 12:30 a.m. in a normally dark yard I could see shadows of everything in my yard including myself.  I took pictures but they really do not show the intensity of the moon's brightness.

With a bright moon, sometimes the moon washes out all the colors and shadows, too.  Especially with digital cameras.


Here is a neat moon picture for you.

This is known as a "Moon dog".  When the sun creates this effect, it is called a "Sun Dog"

[LuckyDeutch]

OMG! I REALLY need to get into this stuff! I have a high powered telescope and a certain camera I can take pictures close up of the sky. Do they have a web site to get involved with this? I do NOT want to go against FC rules so if you can not tell me I will understand and I will try to do more searching on web. I could nOt post pictures. kept telling me they failed. I will TRY to work on this and see if I can post them real soon for you all to see. Thank s again!

[Delphyne]

OMG! I REALLY need to get into this stuff! I have a high powered telescope and a certain camera I can take pictures close up of the sky. Do they have a web site to get involved with this? I do NOT want to go against FC rules so if you can not tell me I will understand and I will try to do more searching on web. I could nOt post pictures. kept telling me they failed. I will TRY to work on this and see if I can post them real soon for you all to see. Thank s again!

There are a lot of websites you could check out, actually.  But, I must warn you - most of the websites give conflicting information.  And some of it is very technical. 

NOAA's Spaceweather Now

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SWN/index.html


SpaceWeather -- This site allows you to create an account and share any aurora or space photographs.  Great photo galleries, but they tend to update their states slowly.

http://www.spaceweather.com/


SolarHam

http://www.solarham.net/



STEREO

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images




SDO - one of my favorites.

http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/

[LuckyDeutch]

  Thank you for the input. I will check them out within next few days. I am very excited to post my pictures. Hope this goes well.

[Delphyne]

Thank you for the input. I will check them out within next few days. I am very excited to post my pictures. Hope this goes well.

Upload your pictures to Imgur.com first.  After you upload them to imgur, there will link options.  Choose the direct link option.  It will end with "jpeg".

Copy that link, then paste it here in between the image brackets.  (Click on the insert image tab here, then paste the link.)

That should work.  I am excited to see your pictures!

[keveland]

omg...I love watching the skies at night but am only an amature.  I would really like help to find a good site to help me with sky watching at night for dummies.  I read you post the other day and went out 45 min. after sunset and saw the most beautiful site...it had to have been a meteor falling bcs it had a tail that looked like fireworks but was silent.  The prettiest site ever!!! If you have anymore tips keep them coming...I love to read them!!!

[Delphyne]

omg...I love watching the skies at night but am only an amature.  I would really like help to find a good site to help me with sky watching at night for dummies.  I read you post the other day and went out 45 min. after sunset and saw the most beautiful site...it had to have been a meteor falling bcs it had a tail that looked like fireworks but was silent.  The prettiest site ever!!! If you have anymore tips keep them coming...I love to read them!!!

Depending on how bright it was.  What state are you in?  I can look around to see if there were any fireball sightings in your area.

There is a comet in the, towards the west, but I am sure that is not what you saw, because the comet is still very faint.

Let me know where you are located so I can find fireball news!

 

[Delphyne]

Sharing this awesome video of St. Patrick's day aurora.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmVK0ESAyG4&feature=youtu.be

[Delphyne]

Here is a neat graphic.  Not only do we litter the planet, but we also litter space. 

The white dots symbolize "space junk".  Space junk ranges from non-functioning satellites to nuts, bolts, and pieces of other space debris. 

Ever wonder how many things we have in orbit?  There are over 2500 satellites in orbit, and over 8000 pieces of space junk.

[keveland]

omg...I love watching the skies at night but am only an amature.  I would really like help to find a good site to help me with sky watching at night for dummies.  I read you post the other day and went out 45 min. after sunset and saw the most beautiful site...it had to have been a meteor falling bcs it had a tail that looked like fireworks but was silent.  The prettiest site ever!!! If you have anymore tips keep them coming...I love to read them!!!

Depending on how bright it was.  What state are you in?  I can look around to see if there were any fireball sightings in your area.

There is a comet in the, towards the west, but I am sure that is not what you saw, because the comet is still very faint.

Let me know where you are located so I can find fireball news!

 

I am in Iowa...Des Moines to be exact. What I saw in the sky was so bright but it was silent.  The size of it was about the size of a big baseball and had a tail of sparks behind it.  Yet it was silent.  I wish I had my camera set up for a shot but was just about to go inside and there it was.  Thanks again for all your info...it helps us dummies appreciate the sky even more!!!