Category Archives: daily events

Venus transit coming

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Here we have two sites celebrating the fact that Venus will pass in front of the Sun as seen from Earth on June 5/6. One will show you the happening in real time via webcam, courtesy Keck Observatory; the other will let you participate in recreating an 18th century experiment, courtesy the Bradford Robotic Telescope Project.

Here you can see a animated gif of 22 pictures I took on June 8, 2004, when the last Venus transit was visible on Earth. Taken with a simple webcam glued to my C8, through a Baader solar filter. Next time it won’t take 8 years almost to the day, but more like 105 years. So be prepared and tell the clouds to go hiking.

A big, big, full Moon

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Tonight it’s a full moon. Not only that, but the Moon is at its apogee, at the closest distance from Earth as possible. In this case we’re talking about a mere 356,000 kilometers, which might be close enough to let the Moon crash on our heads. Of course the Zeta Reticulans from the planet Niburu are to blame, but don’t despair: Marv the Martian won’t allow it.

There are some consequences, though, because the Moon will shine about 14% larger in our sky, making up a whopping 30% brighter as compared with a regular full Moon.

If the clouds aren’t spoiling things, like here in The Netherlands, go outside, and let your umbrella at home. The days that planets and moons regularly crash into each other are long gone. If you’re living near traffic however, take care not to wander involuntarily onto the road, because that is a real danger for your health.

 

Can I have my storm, please?

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If you notice the complete absence of global catastrophe, it’s because the solar storm that arrived after this week’s series of eruptions from the Sun only struck the Earth a glancing blow.

Now, as people are noticing that the power grid didn’t collapse, computers didn’t fail worldwide, and GPS still worked (as well as it ever did), US space weather experts from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)have downgraded the threat and are looking for explanations for the surprisingly low impact of the storm.

The only impacts reported by the NOAA are some brief interference with HF radio systems that have already passed. … (The Register)

Into the real world

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NASA’s chief climate scientist James E. Hansen built his career studying Earth’s atmosphere and modeling humans’ potential impacts on climate. Then he realized that laboratory work wasn’t enough. Hansen never thought his decision to study atmospheric models would lead to his arrest. But there he was in handcuffs this summer, protesting at the White House against a pipeline that would carry crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico.

It wasn’t the first arrest, either. Hansen, who has directed NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies for 31 years, earned the sobriquet “father of global warming” after testifying before Congress in 1988 on the dangers of global warming. He appeared again in 1989. Then he quietly returned to his work, turning aside television and media requests for the next 15 years because, as he said, “you have no time to do the science if you’re talking to the media.” … (Universe Today)

Huzzah!

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Today is the first day of the rest of my life. 51 years ago it was the first day of my life. It was  a Monday also.

To continue a tradition I always look up the evening sky at the moment I was born. Mars and the Moon were high in the sky, in first quarter (51% to be precise). Now Jupiter is high in the sky and the Moon is new (actually 11 hours and 46 minutes after new Moon).

Below you can see both vistas. Click on them to see a larger version.

Up to the next birthday.

Monday, January 23, 20.15 (in 1961)

Monday, January 23, 20.15 (today)