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. SPACESHIP SIGHTINGS: Yesterday, space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station (ISS). Minutes later, Freidrich Deters of LaGrange, North Carolina, trained his 11-inch telescope on a pair of bright lights gliding overhead and snapped this picture. The ISS is that big and bright. More double flybys are due today as Discovery and ISS orbit Earth in tandem prior to Discovery's landing on Wednesday. Check Heavens Above for spotting times. COMET 17P/HOLMES: Italian astronomer Paolo Candy has christened Comet Holmes "the Jellyfish Comet." This picture taken Nov. 6th through his 8-inch telescope shows why: "It has a green head and blue tentacles," notes Candy. An 8-hour movie recorded by astronomer Filipe Alves of Atalaia, Portugal, shows the tentacles in motion. Indeed, it seems to be swimming. Doug Zubenel of DeSoto, Kansas, sees a different likeness. "It looks like an alien creature from the 1960s TV show the Outer Limits. The episode entitled Moonstone, which first aired on March 9, 1964, features a white sphere found by lunar explorers which houses creatures of great intelligence. The resemblance to Comet Holmes is striking." Jellyfish? Alien intelligence? Form your own opinion after sunset when Comet Holmes pops into view in the northern constellation Perseus: sky map. It is visible to the unaided eye and a fine target for binoculars and backyard telescopes. Comet 17P/Holmes Photo Gallery [Interactive World Map of Comet Photos] [sky map] [ephemeris] [3D orbit] [Night Sky Cameras] STRANGE SUNSET: Two nights ago, photographer John Cesarek was standing on a beach near San Francisco when he saw something extraordinary happen to the setting sun. Using a Nikon D80, he snapped this picture: Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley calls it a "three sun sunset--with a magnificent green flash produced by a temperature inversion layer!" "You can see the inversion layer," he points out. "It's the dark band above the horizon. A mock-mirage generated by the layer made the three suns: Sun #1 is the lower pancake shape. Sun #2, an inverted image, is the fragmented yellow line at the top of the dark layer. Time sequences show these two Images moving within the layer. Finally, sun #3, just above the layer, has its colors vertically stretched out making the intense flash of green." "The combination of cold offshore current and warm Santa Ana winds makes California an ideal green flash hunting ground." Indeed, just such conditions are predicted for the evenings ahead. San Franciscans, grab your cameras and head for the beach. |