Comet SWAN as captured by Pete Lawrence

May 5, 2020 at 9:44 am

It might prove tricky, but see if you can spot Comet C/2020 F8 Swan racing across the Eastern Skies

Comet C/2020 F8 Swan will be gracing the Eastern skies during May and into June 2020, although it might prove tricky to spot. Discovered in images taken by the SWAN camera aboard the Solar Heliospheric Observer (SOHO) spacecraft on 25 March 2020, the comet reaches perihelion on 27 May.

At the start of May, it was estimated to be a fraction brighter than mag. +6, putting it within naked eye territory. By late May, preliminary estimates suggest it may brighten to around mag. +3. By 8th May, It's already brightened below +4 magnitude. 

Observing it will be a balancing act due to where the comet is located in the sky versus the onset of evening, morning and Twilight. 

As luck would have it, the comet is expected to reach its peak brightness between 20-22 May.

On the night of 29/30 May, comet C/2020 F8 Swan moves into Auriga approximately 4.5 degrees to the west of Capella (Alpha Aurigae). It continues east, curving south as it goes, to pass one degree south of Capella on the night of 2/3 June.

Visibility for this comet will be complicated by the part of the sky it is in and the proximity of its appearance to the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice (Sun is furthest North on top of the tropic of Capricorn) on 20 June.

On May 12th the comet will breeze some 83 million kilometers (52 million miles) from Earth and come to perihelion on May 27th at a distance of 64 million kilometers (40 million miles) from the Sun. During the second week of May SWAN will stand just a few degrees high in the eastern sky 90 minutes to 2 hours before sunrise for the central U.S. By May 21st its altitude increases to around 5° and subsequently declines at month's end.

Check the Eastern Skies around 4.30 - 5.10 in the morning and if the skies clear in Sri Lanka, you will be able to experience this magnificent comet. 

Comet ATLAS - view from Sri Lanka

Comet ATLAS has faded away. It never reached the expected brightness and scientists believe that the comet disintegrated to smaller pieces making it fade. 

However, we got a new comet - SWAN. it has brighten to magnitude 5 already. So, lets keep fingers crossed. I will have a separate page on it. 

We are SO OVERDUE for a decent - read visible to the unaided eye - comet in the Northern Hemisphere. Maybe, just MAYBE, our wait is over. Comet ATLAS has been brightening quite nicely and is currently visible in binoculars.

The comet is in the northern sky right now near the Big Dipper. See the star chart below.

Comet Atlas is racing toward the inner solar system, and it could become the brightest comet seen in the night sky in over two decades. The comet, discovered by an observatory designed to protect Earth from asteroids, may even be visible during the day just two months from now.

Also known as C/2019 Y4, this comet was discovered by astronomers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii in December 2019. At the time, the comet was exceedingly dim — but the comet became 4,000 times brighter in just a month. This increase is far greater than astronomers predicted, and could potentially signal the comet may soon be exceptionally bright.

Comet ATLAS proved a close match to the Great Comet of 1844 (C/1844 Y1). Both have periods around 4,000 years, approach within 0.25 astronomical unit (a.u.), or 37.4 million kilometers, of the Sun at perihelion, and are inclined 45° to the ecliptic. These and other orbital similarities were strong enough to conclude that both objects were fragments of a single, much larger comet that broke apart about 5,000 years ago. For all we know there may be additional fragments en route for future appearances.

It is expected that the comet will continue to brighten, and it is possible the comet may be visible to the naked eye sometime in April or May 2020. It will reach its nearest point to Earth on May 23 and come to perihelion (closest to the Sun) on May 31.

Watch this space and register to SkyAbove news alert (SMS - "REG SKY" to 77000 on your phone) for further details on position of the comet.

So, it is understood that comet Atlas has disintegrated and below pictures prove it. 

January 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

Addition to the Lunar Eclipse, this would be the only occasion in this decade where the moon will be furthest north. The next event where the moon would move further north will be in 2031. 

Keen observers in Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa may see the Moon turn a shade darker during the maximum phase of this penumbral lunar eclipse. Most penumbral lunar eclipses cannot be easily distinguished from a usual Full Moon.

Regions seeing, at least, some parts of the eclipse: Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Much of North America, East in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic.

Lunar eclipses can be visible from everywhere on the night side of the Earth, if the sky is clear. From some places the entire eclipse will be visible, while in other areas the Moon will rise or set during the eclipse.

Event	UTC Time	Time in Sri Lanka	Visible in Sri Lanka
Penumbral Eclipse begins	10 Jan, 17:07:44	10 Jan, 22:37:44	Yes
Maximum Eclipse	10 Jan, 19:10:02	11 Jan, 00:40:02	Yes
Penumbral Eclipse ends	10 Jan, 21:12:19	11 Jan, 02:42:19	Yes

* The Moon is above the horizon during this eclipse, so with good weather conditions in Sri Lanka, the entire eclipse is visible.

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds.

The magnitude of the eclipse is -0.116.

The penumbral magnitude of the eclipse is 0.895.

The total duration of the eclipse is 4 hours, 5 minutes.

Comet Wirtanen

Comet-Wirtanen- as seen through telescope on 11-4-2018

photo credit Martin Mobberley

46P / Wirtanen is a small short-period comet with a current orbital period of 5.4 years. It was the original target for close investigation by the Rosetta spacecraft, planned by the European Space Agency, but an inability to meet the launch window led to Rosetta being sent to 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko instead.It belongs to the Jupiter family of comets, all of which have aphelia between 5 and 6 AU. Its diameter is estimated at 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi)

Comet Wirtanen is expected to be one of the very few coments that would be visible to the naked eye for sometime.

The Comet will be visible throughout the nights from November to December with naked eye visibility in Mid parts of December. 

The comet would reach the closest point to earth on the 16th of December 2018 and will be visible there on till Jan 2019. This will be a good opportunity to view a Comet as there will be no identified naked eye visible Comet for sometime. 

Watch this space for general information and subscribe to the skyabove SMS alert if you are a Sri Lankan to get more accurate details.

Beautiful Moon and it's phases

Please share with your friends and let them enjoy the wonders above too !

Moon is the largest visible space object to earth, hence, often ignored for the wonderful viewing experiences it proved. Apart from the day the full moon we admire, there are several phases of the moon that one could observe.

Micro Moon - A Micromoon happens when a Full Moon or a New Moon coincides with apogee; the point in the Moon's orbit farthest away from Earth

Super Moon - A Super Moon happens when a Full Moon or New Moon is near the Moon's closest approach to Earth; also called perigee

The Blue Moon 

Blue Moon - There are two definitions of a Blue Moon; both are a type of Full Moon. If the moon actually looks blue, it's caused by a rare type of dust in the atmosphere. The other is when there are two full moons during a calendar month. 

Black Moon - There are several definitions of a Black Moon. It can be the third New Moon in an astronomical season with four New Moons or the second New Moon in the same calendar month.

Red Moon - This is when the moon gets a reddish colour due to moon passing through the penumbra of earth. Penumbra is explained in below picture 

Perigee and Apogee

The Moon's orbit around Earth is not a perfect circle, but elliptical, with one side closer to Earth than the other. As a result, the distance between the Moon and Earth varies throughout the month and the year. On average the distance is about 382,900 kilometers (238,000 miles).

The point on the Moon's orbit closest to Earth is called the perigee and the point farthest away is the apogee.

The Red Moon

Lunar Eclipse 

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its Shadow (Umbra). This can occur only when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can occur only the night of a full moon. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes or the distance from Earth. 

Moon Phases

The sunlight that reflects onto the Moon's surface we call a Moon phase. The amount of that light we can see from our point of view on Earth varies every day. The lunar month is generally divided into four primary and four intermediate Moon phases: New Moon, Waxing Crescent Moon, First Quarter Moon, Waxing Gibbous Moon, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous Moon, Third Quarter Moon, and Waning Crescent Moon.

Watching the phases of the moon and how the position and shadow of the moon changes can be a fun activity. There are other fun instances that can be associated to the moon as when the International Space Station travels across the visible moon surface. (Click here for Video)

Taking photographs of the full moon whilst birds or objects flying in front is considered rare and fun. Have fun with the moon and please do share your photographs and experiences with us.

Iridium Flares

  

  

An Iridium flare is a type of visibility that a satellite produces (also known as satellite glint) when the antennas of an Iridium communication satellite reflect sunlight directly onto the surface of the Earth. Whoever is looking at the right spot at the right time will see a brief but bright flare in the sky which is sometimes brighter than Venus and even the Moon (when it's not full).

However, you don't have to depend on sheer luck to see an Iridium flare. The Skyabove service will provide you with an SMS alert on the brightest flares that occur from time to time and the directions to view it from.

To better experience Iridium Flares, you could follow the below mentioned steps...

1. Use the details provided by the SkyAbove service.
2. Determine your location in coordinates (Predictions are based on SL center line, hence, the angle and time of viewing will differ minutely.
3. Recheck the prediction shortly before observing to reconfirm the time and directions.
4. Make sure your clock or watch is tuned as precisely as possible, otherwise you'll likely miss it or be too early and think it's over. usually, the time variant is + / - 3 minutes for Sri Lanka.
5. Go outside at least a couple of minutes prior to the time listed on the correct date.
6. Look in the direction and altitude listed.

There are Many Satellites that orbit the Earth at any given time.. 

An Iridium flare looks like a star that moves slowly and quickly brightens, then slowly fades away. Sometimes it leaves a visible trail, fades away in less than a second from becoming visible, or lasts more than a minute, it is most likely either a meteor, a fireball or even the International Space Station.

Some terms that we use to provide Exact location to view are as below.

• Azimuth - Measured clockwise around the observer's horizon from north; north has an azimuth of 0°, east 90°, south 180° and west 270°.
• Altitude - Overhead is 90°, directly in front of you is 0°.

Determining the correct altitude to watch is a bit more difficult than the azimuth, especially in the twilight before stars begin to appear, which is the usual time satellites are seen. A handy gauge is your fist held at arm's length - it is approximately 10° 'tall'. I prefer to also extend my index (pointer) and pinky fingers straight out (not 'splayed') to provide a better 0° and 10° gauging point. Place your extended pinky on the horizon in front of you, look up to your index finger & note where it is against the sky -- count "10". Keep your eyes on that spot, and shift your fist upwards until the pinky is where the index was - then up to the index's new position & count "20", & so on. Repeat until you've determined the correct angle - and of course, a 5° (eg, 45° etc.) position falls in the middle between the extended fingers. This 'gauge' is pretty accurate. You can continue up to 90° & if that point is directly overhead, you're doing it correctly.

Below is a video of a recorded Iridium Flare - you can find many such recordings on youtube. Let us know about your experiences too..

 Happy Star Gazing !!!

The Andromeda Galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest Galaxy to the Milky Way Galaxy that we are in. Hence, logically, it should be visible isn't it? But, how many has observed / seen it ? 

The reason is that the Galaxy is so far away, you would see it as a faint single star. The below illustration indicates the distance between the two galaxies. If we see the largest and the brightest star in Milky-way as a dot, Andromeda being at the distance it is, appear faint too.  

However, it is observable to the naked eye if you are outside the city limits. Colombo, is quite bad as an observing site. However, a decent pair of Binoculars should do the trick.

So, How do we find it ?

In the night sky above Sri Lanka, Andromeda is to the northern hemisphere. Watch for the Constellation Orion - Draw a mental straight line towards north west direction and you should arrive at the area that is circled in red in the above diagram. You would see the below star charts in this area and locate the Galaxy as shown. Mind you, it is not the colourful Galaxy you would see as in the first picture of this blog - those are long exposure (at least 30 minutes) shots that makes it colourful. 

If you observe the sky from a clear, unpolluted location, you would most probably see a sight as below - it would be easier for anyone to spot the galaxy through naked eye if the skies are really clear. What you see like a puff of dust is Andromeda. 

If you use Bino's or telescope you would see something like below.

Happy Andromeda Hunting. Please provide feedback if you spot the Galaxy and feel free to share pictures. You can comment below. 

The International Space Station Visible Passes

Click on images for larger versions and please do share with your friends who are fellow enthusiasts.

As of now, The International Space Station (ISS) is the Largest Man Made artificial object in the Sky. 

The ISS maintains an orbit with an altitudeof between 330 and 435 km (205 and 270 miles). It completes 15.54 orbits per day and is one of the most visible space objects from Earth. Below is a long exposure photograph of the Space Station crossing the sky. 

The ISS could be so bright at times, it becomes brighter than Venus - the brightest object we see in the sky apart from the sun and the moon. The below picture indicates the moon and ISS - ISS is the bright object (Dot) to the left of the moon. 

Additionally, the spotting the ISS crossing the disk of the Sun and the moon also can be described as phenomena that one should not miss. 

The passes of the ISS over a given Geographic location could be calculated and informed to the public. 

Below is a video of the ISS passing over land.

NASA also provides a 24x7 live feed from the ISS - Enjoy the view of earth from space below.

Enjoy the sky watch !

The Southern Cross (Crux Constellation)

Click on images for larger versions. Please share with fellow Lankans who wish to learn and enjoy the beauties of the night sky.

The Southern Cross or the Constellation Crux is visible most months throughout the year and is visible in the southern sky.

The importance of this constellation or star pattern is that when you connect the stars in the form of a cross, it always points to the absolute south or the south pole of the earth.

In January, it is visible in the morning skies and will shift to the evening skies by June. However, based on earth's position vs. the Sun, the constellation is one of the most visible and beautiful sights in the skies..

Enjoy ...

NGC 2451 Open Cluster - January

An open cluster is a group of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age.

The NGC 2451 Open Cluster probably discovered by Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654 andJohn Herschel in 1835. In 1994, it was postulated that this was actually two open clusters that lie along the same line of sight. To the Naked Eye, a cluster usually is seen as one star due to the distance from earth. However, mindful observation allows you to see many stars combined together as in a powder puff. 

The open star cluster NGC 2451 in Puppis (click) will be well placed for observation during January and beyond. It will reach its highest point in the sky at around midnight Sri Lanka time.  Refer below Map and the red circled area. Click on image to enlarge.   

At a declination of -37°58', it is easiest to see from the southern hemisphere but cannot be seen from latitudes much north of 32°N.

From Sri Lanka, it will be visible between 19:54 and 04:30. It will become accessible at around 19:54, when it rises 15° above the south-eastern horizon, and then reach its highest point in the sky at 00:14, 45° above the southern horizon. It will become inaccessible at around 04:30 when it sinks to 15° above your south-western horizon.

At magnitude 2.8, NGC2451 is visible to the naked eye, but best viewed through a pair of binoculars.