Where's Saturn? Is that a UFO--or the ISS? What's the name of that
star? Get the answers from mySKY--a
fun new astronomy helper from Meade.
VENUS AND SATURN, SIDE-BY-SIDE:
This weekend, Venus and Saturn are putting on a lovely show in the
evening sky. "In commemoration of our country's upcoming Independence
Day celebration, we chose to photograph the planets from historic
Concord, Massachusetts," say Imelda
Joson and Edwin Aguirre. (continued below)
"In this shot, Venus and Saturn appear beside the Minute Man
Monument at the foot of Old North Bridge, where the first
shots of the American Revolution were fired in 1775."
The show's not over: The two planets are still side-by-side tonight,
barely 1o apart. Look for them after sunset as the twilight
sky fades to black: sky
map.
more images: from
Mohammad Javad Fahimi of Kerman, Iran; from
Miguel De La Torre of Playas de Tijuana, Tijuana B.C. Mexico;
from
Sorin Hotea of Alba Iulia, Romania; from
Marcelo Bissaro of Campinas, Brazil; from
Wade Howlett of Bullsbrook, Western Australia; from
Mariano Ribas of Buenos Aires, Argentina; from
John Sachs of Hanover, Pennsylvania; from
Daniel Ethier of Woodbury, Minnesota; from
Keith Aaron of Frederick, Maryland; from
Simon Chan of Perth, Western Australia; from
Peter Naglič of near Celje, Slovenia; from
Ivica Skokic of Zagreb, Croatia; from
Peter Rosén of Stockholm, Sweden; from
Stan Richard at the Ashton Observatory near Des Moines, Iowa;
AT THE DOORSTEP OF SPACE:
Noctilucent clouds (NLCs) float much higher than ordinary clouds,
as shown in this June 29th photo from Viktor
Veres of Mogyorod, Hungary:
"The dark clouds in the foreground are common altostratus
clouds (4 to 5 km high)," says Veres. In the background are
NLCs, located 80+ km above Earth's surface. This puts them at the
doorstep
of space itself.
This altitude difference explains why NLCs glow at night. NLCs
are so far above Earth's surface, they are able to catch
the rays of the sun even when it's dark near the ground. (The
International Space Station glows at night for the same reason.)
The blue color of NLCs comes from scattering of sunlight by very
tiny ice crystals in the clouds; blue is scattered more than other
colors.
Noctilucent clouds have been very active in recent weeks, so be
alert! Watch the sky about an hour after sunset. If you see electric-blue
tendrils spreading up from the western horizon, you've probably
spotted an NLC.
June
2007 Noctilucent Cloud Gallery
["Noctilucent
Cloud"--the song] [Night-Sky
Cameras]
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