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Showing posts with label Comet Lulin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comet Lulin. Show all posts

Feb 23, 2009

Comet Lulin and Saturn hooked-up and visible!

The Great Cosmic Coincidence of Feb 24, 2009


Space Weather News for Feb 23, 2009

COSMIC COINCIDENCE: What are the odds? On Tuesday, Feb 24, Saturn and Comet Lulin will converge in the constellation Leo only 2 degrees apart. At the same time, Comet Lulin will be making its closest approach to Earth--the comet at its best!-- while four of Saturn's moons transit the disk of the ringed planet in view of backyard telescopes.

Oh, and the Moon will be New, providing dark skies for anyone who wishes to see the show.The best time to look is around 1 am Tuesday morning (your local time) when the planet-comet combo ascend high in the southern sky.

To the unaided eye, Comet Lulin looks like a faint patch of gas floating next to golden Saturn. Point your backyard telescope at that patch and you will see a lovely green comet with a double tail.

Visit SpaceWeather.com for full coverage including photos, sky maps, and a live webcast.

~:~

'Golden Saturn'!! With my four natal planets ruled by Saturn, I'm suitably behooved to hear the Old Man described so glowingly especially since he has a rather bad rap sheet.

And you know that in the tropical zodiac, which applies for most of us western astrologers, the Lulin-Saturn hook-up is occurring in Virgo, but be that as it may, I have hopes of nabbing a peek at them at 1:00 am est in the morning.

Most comets I've been able to view from my deck, so I figure no matter how cold it is, I can mosey out there and give it a go!

Feb 19, 2009

Comet Lulin now visible to naked eye

Space Weather News for Feb 18, 2009


COMET LULIN UPDATE: Comet Lulin is approaching Earth and brightening rapidly. Observers say it is now visible to the naked eye as a faint (magnitude +5.6) gassy patch in the constellation Virgo before dawn. Even city dwellers have seen it.

Backyard telescopes reveal a vivid green comet in obvious motion. Just yesterday, amateur astronomers watched as a solar wind gust tore away part of the comet's tail, the second time this month such a thing has happened. Lulin's closest approach to Earth (38 million miles) is on Feb 24; at that time the comet could be two or three times brighter than it is now.

Browse the gallery for the latest images.

SATELLITE DEBRIS: More than a week has passed since the Feb 10 collision of Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 over northern Siberia, and the orbits of some of the largest fragments have now been measured by US Strategic Command.

Today's edition of SpaceWeather features global maps showing where the debris is located. Only 26 fragments are currently plotted, but that number will grow as radar tracking of the debris continues. Check back often for updates.

Feb 9, 2009

Feb 9 2009's 'dusky' Lunar Eclipse + Comet Lulin

Space Weather News for Feb 8, 2009

DUSKY LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Monday, Feb 9, the full Moon will pass through the outskirts of Earth's shadow, producing a penumbral lunar eclipse. The event will be visible to the naked eye as a dusky shading of the northern half of the Moon. Maximum eclipse occurs between the hours of 1400 and 1520 UT (6:00 am - 7:20 am PST).

The timing favors observers in east Asia, Australia, Hawaii and western parts of North America.

Visit SpaceWeather.com for a visibility map, animations, and more information.

COMET LULIN UPDATE: The plasma tail of Comet Lulin, torn off by a solar wind gust on Feb 4, has already grown back. Also, observers in dark-sky locations report that the comet is now visible to the naked eye as a pale "fuzzy patch" in the constellation Libra before dawn.

The comet is brightening as it approaches Earth for a 38-million-mile close encounter on Feb 24. See the latest images in the Comet Lulin Photo Gallery.

~:~

Speaking of Australia, my heart and best wishes for your safety go out to my friends in Australia, astrology and otherwise, on the worst wild fires in Australian history. And if there are culprits to catch, I hope you catch them! jc

Jan 9, 2009

Super Full Moon, new sunspots, and Comet Lulin approaches

Space Weather News for Jan 9, 2009

APPROACHING COMET: Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3), discovered in 2007 by a collaborative team of Taiwanese and Chinese astronomers, is swinging around the sun and approaching Earth. The photogenic comet has a bright tail and an "anti-tail" visible in mid-sized backyard telescopes.

At closest approach in February, Comet Lulin is expected to brighten to naked-eye visibility.

Visit SpaceWeather.com for sky maps, pictures and more information.

NEW SUNSPOTS: For the second time this week, a sunspot is coalescing on the surface of the sun. The spot's high latitude and magnetic polarity identify it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24; its appearance continues a recent trend of gradually intensifying new-cycle solar activity. The spot is growing rapidly and may soon provide a nice target for backyard solar telescopes.

FULL MOON ALERT! This weekend's full Moon is the biggest and brightest of 2009. It's a "perigee Moon" as much as 50,000 km closer to Earth than other full Moons we'll see later this year. Perigee moonlight shining through icy winter air can produce beautiful halos, coronas, moondogs and other atmospheric optics phenomena.

Sample photos are featured on today's edition Spaceweather.com.

~:~

There's the Astronomy of it.

And here's the Astrology chart of the Jan 10, 2009 Full Moon in Cancer with its Mystic Rectangle pattern (Sun opposite Moon; Saturn opposite Uranus) and a YOD (Finger of God pattern) superimposed over the Mystic Rectangle.

Moon '22Cancer'..."A Woman Awaiting a Sailboat"...

You may wish to check with Lynda Hill at her Sabian Symbols site for info on this degree's meaning for what promises to be a smashing, super-close Full Moon, the only perigee Moon of 2009.