Astronomy Ireland - Jupiter and Moon Watch - 9 PM / 18th April 2016

rolion

Hi,

As per title, Astronomy Ireland has an open public night out, on 18th of April.
Looking at description, looks interesting !

"Astronomy Ireland is setting up some of the most powerful telescopes in Ireland, to show members of the general public the Jupiter, which is close to the Moon on the night of April 18th.

The event will take place on April 18th at 9pm due to summertime change. The event is open to the general public This event will take place at our HQ (Map and Address) on April 18th regardless of weather!"


I may see you there, for a nice hot cup of tea ? Cause I guess the sky going to be cloudy, as usual !

PS
getting quite busy this month on the astro scene !
Cosmos in Athlone, Night out in Dunsink, Night out with Astronomy Ireland, Meet-up night out as well...nice one !!!
looking to meet you and why not, exchange some ideas, review equipment, learn something new.
thanks.

rolion

Clouds, clouds,lovely clouds !!!

Captain Chaos

rolion wrote: »

Clouds, clouds,lovely clouds !!!

It's always overcast more times that not whenever there is something special to see.

In saying that I got a great view of Mars and Saturn together on Saturday night low over the east horizon. You could really see the orangey red hue of Mars even without optics.

jfSDAS

Hi all,

I feel I have to respond more to the various media articles on the Moon-Jupiter pairing rather than the original first post itself.

While I have to applaud Astronomy Ireland for drawing attention to the interesting pairing of the Moon and Jupiter in our night sky, I think it is being very sensationalist to claim this is "a one-in-a-lifetime" event (the words in quotes are in a number of media articles).

The phenomenon is not rare, contrary to what is claimed in a number of media articles. A similar pairing of the Moon and Jupiter occurs on May 15th this year and the two will appear even closer in our sky on June 11th. The various articles also suggest the Moon and Jupiter will not be as close again in our lifetimes -- again, I'm guessing this is lifted from a press release and not lines dreamed up by a journalist. To that I say, what about a Jupiter occultation? We'll definitely see at least one of those in our lifetimes!

Unfortunately, while many of us make great efforts to dispense factually correct information, the public's trust in the reporting of astronomical events can sometimes be damaged when the original primary source seems to hype things up to high heaven.

John


Some of those articles ...

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/2016/04/18/irish-stargazers-urged-to-watch-jupiter-and-moon-tango
http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0418/782537-sky-jupiter/
http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/news/roundup/articles/2016/04/18/4118192-sky-gazers-are-in-for-a-treat-tonight/
http://utv.ie/News/2016/04/16/Jupiter-to-appear-beside-moon-in-rare-phenomenon-57539

fryup

can we see it tonight??

jfSDAS

fryup wrote: »

can we see it tonight??

Sorry for the late reply.

The Moon will have moved on and the gap between it and Jupiter has now widened. A good software program to simulate the view is Stellarium or any mobile phone app should do the trick.

www.skymaps.com is a good site for a free downloadable monthly star chart. Also, check out www.heavens-above.com which gives not just details of space station passes but also allows you create a star chart for the moment you are viewing the sky. I'd also bookmark www.spaceweather.com -- it's a great source of info on transient celestial phenomena and features some truly stunning photographs of the sky. I'm always in awe of the images spaceweather.com shares.

Finally, a shameless plug is my free calendar of sky sights visible from Ireland that you can download from the link mentioned at http://irishastro.org/node/144

John

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Agree it's a bit overrated. A real once-in-a-lifetime experience is seeing, just by chance a meteorite smash into the moon.
Was out walking the dog a few years ago and just happened to notice (with naked eye) a bright flash on the upper left of the moon.

Most likely it was this event on 11 Sept '13:

"The 400kg (63st) meteorite, travelling at 40,000 mph, punches a fresh crater on the moon's surface around 40 metres wide in what is thought to be the largest lunar impact ever recorded"

fryup

does the moon rotate?

and why is it in a different position every night?

Captain Chaos

fryup wrote: »

does the moon rotate?

and why is it in a different position every night?

Google is faster at answering that than someone on boards explaining it all. In short it rotates as the same speed as it orbits the Earth so we always see the same side of it.

ps200306

fryup wrote: »

does the moon rotate?

and why is it in a different position every night?

It orbits the earth every 27 days (that's where the word 'month' comes from). 360 degrees in a month is 13 degrees per day. That's why it's in a different position each night. In fact, since the moon appears half a degree wide, that means it moves by its own width every hour. (That's the movement of the moon against the background stars, not the movement of the whole sky with the rotation of the earth, which is 15 degrees per hour).

The planets generally move more slowly in their orbits around the sun, but always along a similar line to the moon and sun since most things in the solar system lie roughly in the same plane. That means the moon catches up to Jupiter every month, not "once in a lifetime" as some sites have reported. That would appear to be the usual Astronomy Ireland hype.

rolion

jfSDAS wrote: »

While I have to applaud Astronomy Ireland for drawing attention to the interesting pairing of the Moon and Jupiter in our night sky, I think it is being very sensationalist to claim this is "a one-in-a-lifetime" event (the words in quotes are in a number of media articles).

Unfortunately, while many of us make great efforts to dispense factually correct information, the public's trust in the reporting of astronomical events can sometimes be damaged when the original primary source seems to hype things up to high heaven.

Hi John,

While i never had the chance to meet you OR neither have any relation with Astronomy Ireland...i think that is better to close the matter here.
AI have had a lot of awareness process,created for everyone,while i cant say or see for / from any other parties involved in astronomy field(s) in the country.

It was pitty that the weather on Monday was an absolute disaster while on Tuesday night was crystal clear.

Lets meet all of us in Rathebeggan to see Mercury (which again i dunno why is not advertised here) and have a pint with the warmest intentions.

Regards

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rolion wrote: »

Hi John,

While i never had the chance to meet you OR neither have any relation with Astronomy Ireland...i think that is better to close the matter here.
AI have had a lot of awareness process,created for everyone,while i cant say or see for / from any other parties involved in astronomy field(s) in the country.

It was pitty that the weather on Monday was an absolute disaster while on Tuesday night was crystal clear.

Lets meet all of us in Rathebeggan to see Mercury (which again i dunno why is not advertised here) and have a pint with the warmest intentions.

Regards

It can be found in Post 150 .
It will be cloudy so a pint is probably all there'll be to do:D

muskyj

rolion wrote: »

Hi John,

While i never had the chance to meet you OR neither have any relation with Astronomy Ireland...i think that is better to close the matter here.
AI have had a lot of awareness process,created for everyone,while i cant say or see for / from any other parties involved in astronomy field(s) in the country.

It was pitty that the weather on Monday was an absolute disaster while on Tuesday night was crystal clear.

Lets meet all of us in Rathebeggan to see Mercury (which again i dunno why is not advertised here) and have a pint with the warmest intentions.

Regards

while I am totally behind the promotion of the wonderful subject of astronomy I find that when AI have 'awareness proccesses created for everyone' the only thing they are promoting is themselves. These sensationalist (and frankly comical this time) statements do more harm to astronomy promotion than good as the general public will be left with unrealistic expectations.