April 26, 2009 Conjunction : Crescent Moon, Mercury and the Pleiades star cluster

Nine months later ... here is the best of the three pictures I shot with a simple digital still camera. The expanded version shows what appears to be the Pleiades star cluster inbetween the cresent Moon and Mercury.

Watch the Occultation of Venus by the Cresent Moon on April 22, 2009

Click on the link below to watch the video from April 22, 2009.
Occultation

April 26 : Sunset will display 3-way conjunction in the sky

Watch the sunset in the western sky tonight. If the sky is clear, you will see a sliver of a cresent Moon aligning with Mercury and the star cluster Pleiades for a three-way conjunction in the sunset sky. I'm expecting to be on the road enroute to the Albuquerque Sunport Airport but will be sure to find a safe place to pull off the road for a photo shoot. Expect pictures in a day or two!

April 22, 2009 : Lyrid meteor showers and lunar occultation

My viewing party and I missed the Lyrid meteor showers (too much light in the New Mexico sky) but were able to observe the lunar occultation with Venus at sunrise. I'll be posting our digital video footage after I've had a chance to edit the 10 minutes down to the best 1-2 minutes.

What is it?

Photo and video credit: Thomas Ashcraft, heliotown.com

You'll never guess!

Last year, Thomas Ashcraft of New Mexico captured something other than intended on his automated Sandia Fireball network camera that records meteor activity.




Click on the video below to reveil the answer.

More about Ashcraft and Jupiter

Yesterday, Ashcraft was able to record audio of a radio storm on Jupiter through his radio telescope. Visit Tom's website at heliotown.com.

Look to the eastern sky tonight!

Watch what's up tonight as Jupiter and a full moon share the eastern night sky! This photograph of Jupiter was taken by the Voyager 1 space probe. The large oval mark is called the Great Red Spot.

Facts about Jupiter: The 5th planet from our Sun and the 4th brightest object in the sky (after the sun, moon, and Venus). Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system.

Image: nasa.com, Jet Propulsion Laboratory