Activity

Probable CME today (image).  The complex sunspot group (3007) may be the origin.

Astronomer and owner of the small busines astro-gadget.net Plakha Alexander was lucky when Russian shell landed in his front yard, but it did not explode.

See more at article https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/wartime-skygazing-an-amateur-astronomer-in-ukraine/

Two possible coronal mass ejections (CME’s) from th

An still image from a video taken April 21, 2002 shown below.  Lots of big sunspots!  I used the Starblast 4.5 in reflector with full sun filter and the Orion 6.3 megapixel color camera.

Well, I have to complement WeatherUnderground’s forecast for tonight and hope you changed your mind and were able to observe tonight  Josef!  Not able to go, I will nonetheless get out in my observatory for a bit of galaxy observing later tonight.  Hope those able to be at Eagle Bluff have a great Messier Marathon!

Unfortunately weather did not change to better, but to worst 🙁

Weather tonight does look much better. However I may not be able to attend. Not sure yet.

Weather tonight 4/1 will not cooperate, but tomorrow Saturday 4/2 there is at least hope. Cloud cover should be under 20%, see https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/mn/lanesboro

There was talk about observing at Eagle Bluff this weekend, but alas, looks like we’ll be thwarted by the weather once more.  Someday…

SOHO C3 showing an earth directed CME and Mercury approaching superior conjunction below.

How great to see the Falcon launch and then the first stage returning to Port Canaveral in person, John!  I am so envious!

On March 8th Kathy and I and some friends were very close to a Falcon 9 rocket launch that carried a group 4-10 Starlink satellites into orbit. We were so close in fact, that the deafening rumble set off car alarms around us. The first stage is then reused. Sometimes it lands on a barge way out in the ocean. Then it is towed back to Port Canaveral…[Read more]

ESO launches visitor programme for scientists working in Ukraine. More at https://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann22005/

There was an open letter of the Russian scientists, I saw it on March 3, now it’s gone, see https://trv-science.ru/en/2022/02/we-are-against-war/ But, hey, it’s archived at Wayback Machine at https://web.archive.org/web/20220309075848/https://trv-science.ru/en/2022/02/we-are-against-war-en/

Does anyone have a binoviewer like this?

https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Orion-Binocular-Viewer-for-Telescopes/rc/2160/p/52071.uts?keyword=Binoviewer

I would love to have a chance to take a look through one…

It is disturbing to think Dr. Dudnik and other Ukrainian scientists may have to suspend their work because of the Russian invasion.  Even Russian scientists are against this war…[Read more]

Jupiter, approaching solar conjunction, appears now in SOHO’s C3 camera field of view https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/1024/latest.html.

Yes, the SpaceX website that Bob references is fantastic.  It has real time coverage and really interesting commentary on the history, engineering, and current launch details – before, during, and after the launch.  Despite the plethora of information and nice photos, the NASA websites are not very well curated and are very tardy in posting c…[Read more]