VENUS-SATURN CONJUNCTION TONIGHT: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. Venus is there, shining brightly through the twilight. Next, look at Venus through binoculars or a small telescope. Saturn is there, too! The two planets are in conjunction, so close that they fit together in one eyepiece. Full story.
THE ANTI-TAIL OF COMET ZTF: Astrophotography alert! Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) is developing an anti-tail, and tonight may be the best time to photograph it. Unlike ordinary comet tails, which are blown away from the sun by solar wind and radiation pressure, anti-tails point toward the sun. That sounds impossible, yet Bill Williams just photographed the anti-tail of Comet ZTF from his observatory in Chiefland, Florida:
"Comet ZTF has developed an anti-tail in addition to its dust and ion tails!" says Williams. "Just how many tails can a comet have?"
Briefly, three. Comets sometimes grow an ephemeral third tail, the "anti-tail." It's an optical illusion seen when Earth crosses a comet's orbital plane. At that moment, the edge of the comet's fan-shaped dust tail looks like an sunward pointing spike.
"It's happening tonight," says longtime comet observer Paul Robinson of Longmont, CO. "On the evening of Jan. 22nd in the Americas, Earth crosses the orbit of Comet ZTF, which should produce a good spike. Photographers will not want to miss this!"
Robinson has been tracking comets since Kohoutek in 1974. "I have seen and predicted several orbital crossings--including Comet PanSTARRS in 2013, which crossed on May 26th, my birthday. I saw a 7 degree sunward spike in 25x100 binoculars that day."
The iconic anti-tail of Comet Arend-Roland (C/1956 R1) in 1957.Credit: Palomar Observatory
"My estimates using Starry Night Pro 8 say that Comet ZTF's orbital crossing will take place at 11:30 pm EST on Jan. 22nd," notes Robinson. JPL's Horizons ephemeris suggests a slightly different time: 08:50 pm EST. The anti-tail should be sharp and bright throughout that time range.
Astrophotographers, point your optics here.
more images: from Miguel Claro of Alqueva, Portugal; from Dalibor Hanžl of Pavlovice, Czech Republic; from Jan Curtis of Oracle, Arizona; from Michael Jaeger of Weißenkirchen, Austria; from Ruslan Merzlyakov at National Park Thy, Denmark; from Alessandro Carrozzi of Fregenal de la Sierra, Spain; from Chris Schur of Payson, Arizona; from Silvana Diaz of Ezeiza, Argentina
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
THE LIGHT CURVE OF COMET ZTF: Multiple observers are reporting a surge in the brightness of Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3). In the past 48 hours, it has crossed the threshold of naked-eye visibility:
The comet is approaching Earth for a close encounter (0.28 AU) on Feb. 1st. Forecasters expected it to reach magnitude +5.5 to +5.0. It appears to have hit that mark more than a week early. The sudden brightening makes Comet ZTF a barely naked-eye object in dark-sky locations, and an easy target for backyard telescopes anywhere--even downtown London!
Realtime Comet ZTF Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
'NIGHT SPIRAL' OVER HAWAII: On Wednesday night, Jan. 18th, a luminous spiral spun across the night sky. It was photographed by the "Subaru-Asahi Star Camera" on Mauna Kea:
It looks like a giant galaxy. In fact, it came from SpaceX. Earlier the same day, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral carrying a US Space Force GPS satellite (GPS 3 SV-06). The spiral was the aftermath.
"Space X spirals" are becoming commonplace over the Pacific where Falcon 9 rocket stages are often deorbitted. They are created by plumes of unused fuel venting from the rocket's spinning second stage before they plunge into the ocean.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
VALENTINE'S CRYSTAL BEAR AND ROSE: Valentine's Day is coming. Looking for a far-out gift? This Crystal Bear and Rose flew to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon on Dec. 17th:
You can have it for $129.95. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space bears to support their high-altitude ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the ursine astronaut in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter