jayfromcleveland Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 In case anyone remembers to look after dark, the gibbous Moon will be to the northeast of Jupiter tonight, as seen from the Americas. Jupiter is the bright "star" near the Moon. Yes, that's *really* Jupiter, it is the fourth brightest object in the sky, after the Sun, Moon and Venus (currently "The Morning Star" visible before sunrise.) If you're having clear weather today, be sure to remember to look after dark. You can spot these two in evening twilight as night falls and the pair should be spectacular during full nighttime. I regularly report on such planetary conjunctions in the Classical Astronomy Update, an email newsletter especially for Christian homeschoolers (though everyone is welcome!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Your website is SO cool! Thanks for the notification about the sky tonight...unfortunately, I think the monsoon clouds are going to interfere with viewing here in Almost Mexico, AZ...go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Mom Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Thanks for that tip. My DS is really into sky gazing right now. We will have to take his new astronomy binoculars outside on this beautiful clear night and take a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Thanks for posting! We just looked at it with the Galileoscope and could see rings. Barely, but they were there. Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leanna Tomlinson Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I just heard the kids awake so I called everyone downstairs. They thought they were in trouble, but instead we went out in the front yard to see Jupiter! :001_smile: My dd noticed it on the way home from church tonight and remarked that it looked unusual. We had no idea we were looking at a planet! Thanks for the heads up! Leanna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 You have no idea how timely your post is. I was just outside on my back deck looking at the moon (as I do every night when I let the dog out) and I noticed the bright star. I thought it was Venus only it was in the wrong place so I was trying to figure how how to explain where it was located in the sky so I could ask about it. My deck faces directly due south. The moon rises in the east each night at about 45 degrees from the horizon (I think?) and proceeds across the sky to the west. I have been tracking this object for quiet a while now as it has always rose from the east slightly after the moon each night. So it has always been to the left of the moon from my view. Just last night I was noticing how bright it was as it was just over the horizon about barely dusk and I could see it above the lights of the Publix, McDonalds and strip mall that is right behind my house. Tonight it jumped ahead of the moon and is to the right of it as I view it from my deck. :confused: Makes me wonder if this is the same thing I have been tracking because I don't see that to the left of the moon like it usually is. I understand the individual motions of the moon, stars and planets but when I try to put them all together in my head well, let's say I suffer from a serious spatial imaging problem and everthing get jumbled up. I usually get so confused that I give up trying to figure it all out. So maybe you can help clear it up a bit for me. Where is Venus right now? Has Jupiter been visable in the sky for awhile now or is it only visable tonight? Is the thing to the right of the moon right now the same thing I have been tracking to the left of the moon for months now? And if not, what is that thing and where is it now? Do these questions even make any sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdroberts1998 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 This was really neat. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Okay, my family is asleep. Here's a silly question: will we be able to see it tomorrow night as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 we got our telescope out last night and viewed the moon (my one dd is studying the moon right now), and we enjoyed viewing Jupiter as well. With our field telescope would could clearly see 2 of Jupiter's moons. We couldn't see the red spot last night, but we have seen it in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 we got our telescope out last night and viewed the moon (my one dd is studying the moon right now), and we enjoyed viewing Jupiter as well. With our field telescope would could clearly see 2 of Jupiter's moons. We couldn't see the red spot last night, but we have seen it in the past. I thought we were seeing the rings, but maybe they were moons. Were they on opposite sides of Jupiter? I just read that the rings are visible only with large telescopes, so that must not have been what we saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 (edited) Is it O.K. if I jump in? I've been gone to a debate camp with my son and while there we did a night sky program for them. Fun! My deck faces directly due south. The moon rises in the east each night at about 45 degrees from the horizon (I think?) and proceeds across the sky to the west. I have been tracking this object for quiet a while now as it has always rose from the east slightly after the moon each night. So it has always been to the left of the moon from my view. Just last night I was noticing how bright it was as it was just over the horizon about barely dusk and I could see it above the lights of the Publix, McDonalds and strip mall that is right behind my house. Tonight it jumped ahead of the moon and is to the right of it as I view it from my deck. :confused: Makes me wonder if this is the same thing I have been tracking because I don't see that to the left of the moon like it usually is. The moon rises about 50 minutes later every day. When it is full, it will rise in the east when the sun is setting in the west. Each day it will get smaller and smaller, becoming a crescent and rising later and later into the night, until it finally rises with the sun and sets with the sun (called New Moon). And then it will grow a bit larger each day as it rises later and later in the daytime and until it once again rises opposite the sun at full moon. From full moon to full moon is almost a full month and this is how long it takes the moon to travel all the way around the earth--one orbit. The planets do not move as quickly through the night sky. They appear in the same place for days and s-l-o-w-l-y move through a constellation and into another as the weeks go by. Venus and Mercury move more quickly than the other planets because the have a small orbit around the sun. They pop up on one side, slip past the sun and then pop up on the other side. Venus has been referred to as both the Morning Star and the Evening Star because she is SO BRIGHT and is always seen near the sun just before sunrise or after sunset. Right now Venus can be seen just before dawn, rising in the east before the sun (4:30, perhaps?? Not sure when the sun is rising right now). If you have steady hands or can prop a pair of binoculars up so that they do not shake, you might be able to tell that Venus looks a lot like an almost full moon right now. As she heads around the sun and gets closer to the sun, she will go through the same phases that the moon goes through, appearing to be a crescent, gibbous, and full. Jupiter has been slowly moving westward in the night sky. She use to rise in the south east a few hours after sunset, but now she is up by the time the sun has set and is closer to being in the south than in the east at sunset. The sun, moon, and planets all pass through the same part of the sky, and often they line up with each other. This week the moon came up to Jupiter on the right side, but since the moon is moving more quickly, one night the moon was on the right side and then next night, she was on the left side. The moon will continue to rise further and further east of Jupiter until she has made a full circle around the earth--and then she will come up on the right side of Jupiter again in about a month. They many not be lined up quite as nicely next time, but you will be able to see that the moon is getting closer and then passing Jupiter by each month for several months. I understand the individual motions of the moon, stars and planets but when I try to put them all together in my head well, let's say I suffer from a serious spatial imaging problem and everthing get jumbled up. I usually get so confused that I give up trying to figure it all out. So maybe you can help clear it up a bit for me. I highly recommend you play around with this program: http://stellarium.org/ I don't think Jay minds when I jump in on these threads :001_smile:, and I LOVE to talk about the night sky. Just ask anyone who was at camp this week! I must say that my eyes popped wide open (was it last night?) when the moon was suddenly on the other side of Jupiter. She seemed to have leaped over the moon in one large bound. It was truly fun to see!!! Enjoy! Jean Edited September 3, 2009 by Jean in Wisc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I thought we were seeing the rings, but maybe they were moons. Were they on opposite sides of Jupiter? I just read that the rings are visible only with large telescopes, so that must not have been what we saw. There are 4 moons that we can see with our telescopes. They are in constant motion, and they do not move at the same speed, so they can be anywhere within their orbits when you look at them. Sometimes one is behind Jupiter; other times, the moons' shadows can be seen moving across the face of Jupiter as they slip around the front of the planet. In a telescope, the moons appear to be small stars lined in a a straight line. I have seen the moons faintly through a Gallileoscope, so this may have been what you were seeing, but I think even in the Gallileoscope, they appeared to be small "stars." We can't see Jupiter's rings with our telescopes, so that is not what you saw. However, the planet itself has stripes on it. In my telescope I see the two larger ones that are in the photo at this link: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=763 Might you have seen the stripes and not the rings? :) Happy stargazing! Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayfromcleveland Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 (edited) Hi, Jean gave you a very detailed reply but let me take a crack. (Jean, no, of course I dont mind if you jump in on a thread I start. For one thing, I don't camp out all day at WTM like *some people*! :) My deck faces directly due south. The moon rises in the east each night at about 45 degrees from the horizon (I think?) and proceeds across the sky to the west. I have been tracking this object for quiet a while now as it has always rose from the east slightly after the moon each night. So it has always been to the left of the moon from my view. The whole sky appears to rotate from east to west each day because of the Earth's rotation. However, the Moon and planets actually are moving in their orbits from the west to the east. The Moon appears to move the fastest of all the "wanderers" in the sky, and completes a circle through the constellations in a month. The planets take longer to complete a circle. Jupiter takes 12 years, and moves through one constellation a year. Anyway, it sounds like you have been observing bright Jupiter rising in the eastern sky. This lunar month, since the last New Moon on August 20, the Moon had been moving towards the east from night to night. On Tuesday evening, the Moon was to the right of Jupiter, but by Wednesday evening, the Moon passed to the left of Jupiter. The Moon and Jupiter are actually very far away, but the Moon only passed near the same line of sight with Jupiter, and they appeared close in the sky. Just last night I was noticing how bright it was as it was just over the horizon about barely dusk and I could see it above the lights of the Publix, McDonalds and strip mall that is right behind my house. Tonight it jumped ahead of the moon and is to the right of it as I view it from my deck. :confused: Makes me wonder if this is the same thing I have been tracking because I don't see that to the left of the moon like it usually is. Jupiter didnt "jump," it was actually the Moon that jumped from Tuesday to Wednesday. The Moon moves east about 24 lunar diameters each day, or about one lunar diameter an hour. I understand the individual motions of the moon, stars and planets but when I try to put them all together in my head well, let's say I suffer from a serious spatial imaging problem and everthing get jumbled up. I usually get so confused that I give up trying to figure it all out. So maybe you can help clear it up a bit for me. Yeah, it's hard to get this stuff straight. The only way is to consistently observe the sky, and make an effort to learn some constellations. Eventually, it starts to become clear. You'll soon lose sight of the Moon in the evening after it is full on Friday. But you can find it again in the early morning, after sunrise. The Moon will then be "waning," and each day will be a little thinner and a little closer to the Sun, until it again vanishes into the sunrise at the next New Moon. FWIW, I write a newsletter about this stuff, and have created a homeschool astronomy curriculum (which I can't discuss on list). Feel free to explore my site (link below) and send me a direct email if you have any other questions. Where is Venus right now? Venus is blazing brightly as the morning star in the pre-dawn sky. The waning crescent Moon will pass Venus on the morning of Sept 16 -- always a pretty sight. Has Jupiter been visable in the sky for awhile now or is it only visable tonight? Nope, Jupiter is there every night and will be for the rest of 2009. Watch it move toward the west in the coming months. Is the thing to the right of the moon right now the same thing I have been tracking to the left of the moon for months now? And if not, what is that thing and where is it now? Yep, you've been watching Jupiter. Again, it's there every single night, including tonight. Notice how far the Moon is tonight. take care, jay Edited September 3, 2009 by jayfromcleveland typos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayfromcleveland Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Okay, my family is asleep. Here's a silly question: will we be able to see it tomorrow night as well? There's no silly questions, only silly answers! Yes, Jupiter will be there for the rest of 2009, and the Moon will pass it each month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 There are 4 moons that we can see with our telescopes. They are in constant motion, and they do not move at the same speed, so they can be anywhere within their orbits when you look at them. Sometimes one is behind Jupiter; other times, the moons' shadows can be seen moving across the face of Jupiter as they slip around the front of the planet. In a telescope, the moons appear to be small stars lined in a a straight line. I have seen the moons faintly through a Gallileoscope, so this may have been what you were seeing, but I think even in the Gallileoscope, they appeared to be small "stars." We can't see Jupiter's rings with our telescopes, so that is not what you saw. However, the planet itself has stripes on it. In my telescope I see the two larger ones that are in the photo at this link: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=763 Might you have seen the stripes and not the rings? :) Happy stargazing! Jean Must have been two of the moons then. They were little bright points just to either side of Jupiter, lined up. I thought they were the edges of the rings. Jupiter was awfully bright, so I didn't see any stripes. We'll try again tonight. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbasil Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Thank you! We saw how brilliant it was last night and can't wait to see it tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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