Skywatchers' Journal

[Jay-qu]

I took the scope out for a look last night - but unfortunately there is still smoke hanging in the air from all the bushfires, so the seeing was pretty bad. The sky glow was so bright it seemed like it was a full moon

Anyway I did point my scope at the Orion nebula, which was still impressive and the Jewel box (I think ), but I was unable to use higher power because it just yielded an unfocusable blur

I hope the fires stop soon for everybodies sake.

[Turtle]

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

Originally Posted by Spaceweather.com:2/23/2009

COSMIC COINCIDENCE: What are the odds? On Tuesday morning, Feb. 24th, Saturn and Comet Lulin will converge in the constellation Leo only 2o apart. At the same time, Comet Lulin will be making its closest approach to Earth (38 million miles), while four of Saturn's moons transit the disk of the ringed planet. Oh, and the Moon will be New, providing dark skies for anyone who wishes to see the show.

The skys cleared enough to get some video of this last night out my South window. I used a Sony Handycam in "SuperNightShot" infrared mode & then I applied a filter in the movie software called "Auto Levels". If I get enthusiastic enough I may grab some stills and try stacking them. As if.

Anyway, here's what I got:

YouTube - Comet Lulin & Saturn

[Jay-qu]

Disaster.. around 9pm the clouds came over and shrouded our view.

I saw nothing..

[Pluto]

G'dafrom the land of ozzzzz

This paper goes back to 2003

Still quite interesting.

Latest Sun Flare Put at X28, Strongest on Record
SPACE.com -- Latest Sun Flare Put at X28, Strongest on Record

The strongest flares on record, in 1989 and 2001, were rated at X20. This one is at least that powerful, scientists say. But because it saturated the X-ray detector aboard NOAA's GOES satellite that monitors the Sun, a full analysis has not been done.

The satellite was blinded for 11 minutes.

Craig DeForest, a solar physicist at the Southwest Research Institute, said others in his field are discussing the possibility that Tuesday's flare was an X40.

"I'd take a stand and say it appears to be about X40 based on extrapolation of the X-ray flux into the saturated period," DeForest told SPACE.com.

Mayb need to check recent flares.

Gallery of solar flares

SPACE.com Image Gallery: HOT STUFF: Solar Flares

[Jay-qu]

I saw my first galaxy last week, it was the Sombrero galaxy M104.

Also on the observed list are the tarantula and carina nebula's, omega centauri and Saturn (+4 moons) I love this scope

[Jay-qu]

Got our and had a look at Jupiter last night, I was hoping to get a look at the great red spot but I think I was to early. My partner took a video of the planet through the eyepiece with a digital cam - I then stacked the images together to bring out some more detail, this is the result:

[Turtle]

if the left side in your image is the South pole of Jupiter, you guys managed to image the new impact! little dark smudge; look close.
nice work!

[Jay-qu]

Yeah I was trying to work out if that smudge was the impact or not, very cool if it is

[freeztar]

I've got an idea...let's crash something into the moon at 5,600mph to see if there's water there.

What?! They're already doing it?!

Oh well...

In 4 or so hours, NASA will crash a rocket booster and it's associated satellite into the moon. I don't think we'll notice much of anything, even with a large telescope, but it will likely generate great images that will show up here.

YUMMY!!

NASA - LCROSS

[Jay-qu]

Unfortunately the moon was below the horizon in Australia, so I didnt get a chance of turning my scope on it and trying to watch...