Launch to Lovejoy

Posted on 2015/01/24 by Carl Robitaille

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Launch to Lovejoy
Image Credit & Copyright: Lynn Hilborn
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150122.html

Blasting skyward an Atlas V rocket carrying a U.S. Navy satellite pierces a cloud bank in this starry night scene captured on January 20. On its way to orbit from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, planet Earth, the rocket streaks past brightest star Sirius, as seen from a dark beach at Canaveral National Seashore. Above the alpha star of Canis Major, Orion the Hunter strikes a pose familiar to northern winter skygazers. Above Orion is the V-shaped Hyades star cluster, head of Taurus the Bull, and farther still above Taurus it’s easy to spot the compact Pleiades star cluster. Of course near the top of the frame you’ll find the greenish coma and long tail of Comet Lovejoy, astronomical darling of these January nights.

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Rare Triple Transit! There’ll be 3 Moon Shadows on Jupiter on January 24th, 2015

Posted on 2015/01/21 by Carl Robitaille

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Rare Triple Transit! There’ll be 3 Moon Shadows on Jupiter on January 24th, 2015

Rare Triple Transit! There’ll be 3 Moon Shadows on Jupiter on January 24th, 2015

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Approaching Asteroid Ceres

Posted on 2015/01/20 by Carl Robitaille

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Approaching Asteroid Ceres
Image Credit: +NASA, +NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory~~Caltech, UCLA, MPS/DLR/IDA/PS~~
~~http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150120.html~~

~~It is the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt –~~ what secrets does it hold? To find out, NASA has sent the robotic Dawn spacecraft to explore and map this cryptic 1,000-kilometer wide world: Ceres. Orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, Ceres is officially categorized as a dwarf planet but has never been imaged in detail. Featured here is a 20-frame video taken a week ago of Dawn’s approach that now rivals even the best images of Ceres ever taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The video shows enough surface definition to discern its 9-hour rotation period. On target to reach Ceres in early March, Dawn will match speeds and attempt to orbit this previously unexplored body, taking images and data that may help humanity better understand not only the nature and history of Ceres but also the early history of our entire Solar System.