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

HI @utopia @Jo-anneJoy @Shaz51 @Gazza75 @Ali11

Seeing Jupiter near the moon would be a fantastic sight Utopia - we didn't have clear skies in Mebourne that night

But - everyone - this morning - on the anniversary of my son's death I got another present from him - the early morning sky was full of stars and planets

Jupiter and Saturn were setting the west, Mars was directly overhead and best of all - the waning crescent moon was near Venus rising in the north-east

I often see something beautiful in nature around his anniversaries - this one was especially spectacular

Dec

Hi @Maggie

I am inviting you to look at some of my photos of the planets - I have the five planets visible to the naked eye here

Dec

Enjoy Maggie

That wave formation is amazing @Owlunar 👍👍👍😍😍

Mr shaz is trying to take a photo tonight @Owlunar but not too good xx

@utopia , @Jo-anneJoy , @Gazza75 , @Former-Member , @Determined

@Owlunar I found this weeks ago. I think it’s the Milky Way over Ireland.

@Shaz51 The more Mr Shaw takes photos, the better he will be at night time photography.

It's a great hobby.

Hi @utopia @Maggie @Shaz51 @Jo-anneJoy @Gazza75 @outlander @BlueBay @Snowie

@Faith-and-Hope @Emelia8

The skies have been so clear on the nights with good weather - and early in the morning it has been spectacular and really worth seeing

Last night was fantastic - before I went to bed I saw Jupiter and Saturn setting along with Scorpio and Mars was just riding - I went out early and Orion was rising and although the crescent moon and Venus was rising I couldn't see them just then but an hour later they were up and I cannot remember such a beautiful night for a long time - it was glorious

The app on my phone tells me where everything should be when and the stars are on the sky map and I can click onto any stars I choose and I can see their names - I have an Android - I don't know if this app is available on I-Phones

Glorious starry, starry nights

Dec

I didn't see this but it is worth getting up early to see the stars and planets right now

I was looking at the sky last night @Owlunar . I’m not sure if I was looking at the saucepan, or just a few stars in a row. It was beautiful anyway.

I beautiful sunset here tonight.

Hi @Maggie

What people often call the saucepan is actually part of the constellation of Orion and these stars make up the belt and sword - and Orion rises early in the morning so I doubt that's what you saw if you were out early in the evening

So I waited for a clear evening to see what you might have seen and I think it was the three stars in the head of Scorpio which sets in the evening - so that would be in the west. Orion is in the east each morning

The sky has been full of stars at night - that is one silver lining in the clouds of the crisis - I have enjoyed going out during the clear mornings when everything is new and clear and there are signs of spring which is only a few days away now

Already the birds are starting to sign first thing - soon they will be full-voiced busy with the dawn creation - which is a lovely name for a lot of male birds letting each other know their status

If you wake up early one morning and the sky is clear then it's worth getting up to see Orion rising -

Dec

Hey @Owlunar

Just wanted to say G'day and thankyou for the information you provide to us here. I really need to dust off my telescope at my farm and have a good look up there. It always seems like there is 10 times as many stars there as here on the coast.

Think I may have the same app on my phone and it really is fantastic. Yo don't need to be online to use it either! 🙂

I hope you and your family are safe and well.

Gazza