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Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Hi @outlander, @Former-Member and @utopia

Hi Utopia - I tagged you for this one because I recollect you are interested in Astronomy - and this is a little thread I will run because I love this stuff and will enjoy sharing it with others

I have a book I get for Christmas every year which tells me when anything interesting is happening - I can't see everything from my place - the Melbourne weather - pollution in the atmosphere and my low horizon is not good for starters - but I can tell you what you could see easily right now - weather being clear of course

The moon is past half and is visible in the afternoon sky and after dark it's near the bright planet Jupiter for a few days - so those two are easy to find

And following that the Moon will pass Antares which is a red star in the middle of the constellation Scorpio - and then Saturn which is the ringed planet and the furthest away of the planets we can see with the naked eye

Also - early in the evening - the the South West of Jupiter you can see Sirius or the Wolf-Star that follows the constellation Orion which is harder to see at this time of year - you may know The Saucepan or know the three bright stars in Orion's Belt

In the morning you can easily see Venus - the planet that is sometimes in the east and sometimes in the west - called the Morning Star or The Evening Star as it moves around the sun - it appears in our morning or evening sky - it's the brighest planet and sometimes it is visible after sunrise or before sunset and it very easy to see - actually - very hard to miss if it's there

Mercury is the smallest planet of the visible 5 and is closest to the sun and the hardest to find - and it's rising before sunrise and I have not seen it lately but I know it's there. You might be lucky to find it - but when then moon is in the last quarter it will be much easier to find

I am up for questions but need to take a break from the computer for a while - but unless I decide to go out - I will be back if anyone has any questions

I get very maternal about a thread when I open it - so I will be looking for this one

Dec

And if I can get suitable pics I will post them to show what I mean - I love all of this


264 replies

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In response to: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Ok @Owlunar this is what I have come up with lol...

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

I'm waiting for it to come up @Zoe7

Thanks

Dec

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Thanks so much @Zoe7 - that is perfect - I think I had better ask you to do my graphics in future or maybe I can learn from this - it's fantastic

So @outlander@Shaz51@utopia and everyone else interested in our night sky - this is what I saw yesterday morning - the sky was a little misty but fantastic to see those three planets together in the sky

Anyway - to add to all the stuff I knew was coming but didn't write - we have a Blue Moon this month and another in March - a blue moon happens when there are two full moons in a months and the Double Blue Moon happens when there are two Blue Moons close together

Personally - this is great for me - my grand-daughter was born in January and my daughter in March - and I was born in July - so I am a Moon Person - born under Cancer so I think this is a great year for my family

And - and and and - we have had a Supermoon already in January and another in a couple of days - this happens when the moon is closer to the earth than usual -

So the moon is bigger and brighter - this has to be a great time astrologically - but please don't ask me about astrology - I know very little - I am more into astronomy -

But then - other people might be interested so ask away

And thanks again for doing my graphics Zoe

Dec

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Hi @Zoe7@Shaz51@utopia@outlander@Ceres

Around 5.00 am this morning the sky was fabulous - really clear

The outer planets Jupiter, Mars and Saturn are all rising earlier as they always do and they are pretty close in the sky in the mornings right now - and the sun is rising later which means on a wonderfullly clear morning like today I could see the picture that @Zoe7 put up on a few days ago but this morning - I could see all of Scorpia very well - and the sky was a glory box

At this time of year - early in the evening now - Taurus and Orion are both easily visible to the north and north west - and the Wolf Star - Sirius - is very clear - it's the brightest star in the night sky

I am thrilled to bits being able to see all of this - this time of year is more stable weather-wise here - well - sometimes it is - but on a good night this is glorious

Being in the eclipse party was fun - I enjoyed myself running the bulletins -

Dec

In response to: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

@Owlunar. I saw Sirius last night. Almost flickering bright

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

That's really fabulous @utopia

I just looked to see when I started this thread and it was in May last year and it was easy for me to see Sirius because I know where and when to look

But now it's in the sky pretty well all night I think

This is the best time of year for looking for objects in the sky

When I go to Tassie I have a room over-looking the city and the estuary and I hope I can see the planets rising in the morning - even watching the sun rise so early will be great

Thanks for sharing Utopia - it gives me a good feeling

Dec

In response to: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

The hotel room sounds like the perfect place to watch the stars @Owlunar

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

the moon is sooo much bigger and brighter @Owlunar, it has lightened up the kithen at night , shinning on the washed dishes and it looks soo bright outside

How long will this last @Owlunar

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

i havent been going outside to look at the stars. maybe another night when its clearer here. your hotel room sounds lovely to stargaze @Owlunar

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Hi @outlander@Shaz51@utopia

I think I can pull up an aerial photo of the Derwent Estuary - just going to try

Oh yes - of course this pic is taken from Mount Wellington

I hope to get a bus ride up there too -

When I was in Sydney I didn't really get a view from my hotel room - just buildings - this time I wanted a Harbour View and I got one - well I hope so anyway

When I was in Canberra I had a clear view of the overhead sky from my balcony - and being away from a big city and its light pollution makes a huge difference

Also my hotel is near the Derwent - I will be able to walk from the hotel and enjoy that too

I am really looking forward to this

Dec

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