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What’s in the Sky in March

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March

  • 18th Luna lowest altitude 28 degrees North.
  • 12th The Large Magellanic Cloud  (LMC) reaches highest altitude about 9.00pm AEDT at magnitude 0.28. The LMC is a spiral galaxy in Dorado at a distance of 160kly and a diameter of 29.7kly in diameter.  The Tarantula Nebula, NGC 2070 is located in this area and is magnitude 5. it is 1,833ly in diameter. The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) located nearby is a spiral Galaxy in Tucana and 200kly in distance and 17.5kly in diameter. visual magnitude is 2.29. These two irregular dwarf are members of our local group and are orbiting the Milky Way Galaxy.
  • Kourtchin (Boorong) refer to the Magellanic Clouds as the male (LMC) and female (SMC), Brolgas. Each cloud resembles the colour and pitted shell of the Brolga egg. Brolgas breed from October to April , when the clouds are at their highest, extending into nearby stars the larger one is trumpeting and the smaller one displaying, but dancing as a pair towards each other.

 

  • 20th Northward Equinox, 14:07hrs AEDT. The Sun crosses the Celestial Equator and moves into the Northern Hemisphere Sky.

 

  • A healthy 100-foot-tall tree has about 200,000 leaves. A tree this size can take 11,000 gallons of water from the soil and release it into the air again as oxygen and water vapor in a single growing season.
    * Native tree species support natural ecosystems by providing habitat and food for birds, mammals, and insects.
    * The planting of trees improves water quality. Tree’s complex root network reduces runoff and erosion. This allows more recharging of the ground water supply. Wooded areas help prevent the transport of sediment and chemicals into streams. Studies show up to 88 percent of nitrate and 76 percent of phosphorus is reduced after agricultural runoff passes through a forested streamside buffer.
    * In addition to all these things, forested streamside buffers also filter sediment from streams, stabilize streambanks, shade and modify stream temperatures, sequester carbon to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce downstream flooding. And the presence of mature trees in a buffer makes the stream wider.
    * A mature tree absorbs carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 pounds per year. In one year, an acre of forest can absorb twice the CO2 produced by the average car’s annual mileage.
    NONE of THE ABOVE OCCURS ON MARS OR ANY OTHER PLANET WE KNOW OF.
  • 24th Luna Apogee, 2nd for this month, furthest distance from Earth for the month 02:43hr AEDT 406,259.2km.
  • 25th Partial Eclipse of the Moon Image is at 7.55pm AEDT.

 

What’s in the Sky in April

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April

  • 1st Moon at highest altitude 29 degrees South.
  • 6th  Comet 12/P Pons -Brooks is now setting just after the Sun sets. It may be visible depending on your location and altitude for a short time later in April but start looking when it is closer to Jupiter. By the 27th April it maybe more visible in telescopes as it moves away from perihelion, it’s closest approach to the Sun.
  • Image April 11th positions.
  • 8th  Luna Perigee, closest distance from Earth for the month 04:50hr AEST 358,851.2km. The moon will be a Super Moon, which is when the Moon is closer than 360,000km to the Earth.
  • 9th AEST time,  8th over America a total Eclipse of the Sun will occur across Mexico America and Canada. A live NASA link for the event;
  • 20th Luna Apogee, furthest distance from Earth for the month 13:09hr AEST 405,623,1km.
  • 14th Luna lowest altitude 29 degrees Nth.
  • The Emu, which contains the area of the Centre of our Milky Way Galaxy, is now rising in the East just after 9.00pm AEST. The Emu is formed by the dust lanes of the Milky Way with the head of the Emu just below the Southern Cross, the dark area also called the Coal Sack, as it it so dark except for BZ Crucis. BZ Crucis forms the eye of the Emu and is a 5th Magnitude Variable Star 1217 light years from our solar system.

 

 

  • 22nd Earth Day – marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
  • 29th Moon at highest altitude 29 degrees South.

 

What’s in the Sky in December

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Image: Geminids 13th December, 02:00 hrs AEDT Local Time.

December

  • 6th Earliest Sunrise for the year.
  • 8th Mars is rising 05:18hrs AEDT in Ophiuchus,  Mag. +1.4  Dist. 366.9 milion km, 20.40 light min.. Tilt of North pole towards Earth is 14.0413 degrees, 97.78% illuminated.
  • 17th Moon at Apogee 05:42hrs AEDT, Dist. 404,347.0km.
  • 8th Saturn at mag. 1.0 setting at 00:26hrs AEDT, Dist. 1,486.7 million km.
  • 8th Jupiter is a beautiful evening object setting at 04:02hrs AEDT,  mag. -2.8, dist. 6.520 million km, Red spot transits  Fri Dec 8th 19:19hrsAEDT.
  • 9th Red Spot on Jupiter transit 05:15hrs AEDT.
  • 9th One of the GREAT COMETS, Comet 1P/Halley, reaches it’s furthest point from the Sun on the 9th December 2023 and begins the journey back to reach perihelion on Saturday September 17th, 2061.
  • 8th Mercury sets at 22:46hrs AEDt, Dist. 139.6 million km Mag. -0.3.
  • 4th-17th  Geminids Meteor Shower  Maximum: December 14, 19h UT (15th  06hrs AEDT);  ZHR = 150; Velocity = 35 km/s.

The best and most reliable of the major annual showers presently observable reaches its broad moon-free maximum on December 14 centred at 19h UT. Well north of the equator, the radiant rises about sunset, reaching a usable elevation from the local evening hours onwards. In the southern hemisphere, the radiant appears only around local midnight or so. It culminates near 02h local time. During high activity, observers
should report their count data for short intervals (no longer than 15 minutes).
Remember that there may be activity related to comet 46P/Wirtanen* on December 12, perhaps from two different radiants. While counting is the best method to record the major GEM activity, notes are advised about the apparent trails and angular velocities of possible “Wirtanen-meteors”.

*12th December ~ 22:20hrs AEDT – Possible Meteor shower

Just before the Geminid maximum there is a chance to observe meteors released from comet
46P/Wirtanen (the initial target of the Rosetta comet exploring mission) on December 12,
around 11h20mUT (λ = 260 .◦11). Vaubaillon writes: this is the first time I see a trail of this
comet crossing the Earth’s orbit. The 1974 trail is quite young and we have no clue concerning
the flux density. Most interestingly, the radiant is split in two very different regions in the sky
– something requiring detailed data and analysis. Most of the activity should be related to a
radiant at about 10◦ north of α Phoenicis in Sculptor, the other radiant is
at between α Pegasi and γ Piscium. Meteors should be very slow with
V∞ = 10km/s and V∞ = 13km/s, respectively. The described activity is expected shortly before
the Geminid maximum. While the Geminid meteors are preferably counted, we recommend to
note to which of the two radiants potential meteors are associated (Scl or Psc). Of course, video
data will provide complete data sets to investigate the radiant structure. Source: IMO

  • 17th Moon at Perigee 05:55hrs AEDT  Perigee distance 367,901.4km.
  • 22nd South Solstice  (or Summer Solstice in Southern Hemisphere) 13:28 AEDT.  The Sun is at it’s Southern most position, -23  26′ 15.07″
  • 27th Moon lowest 28 degrees Nth and is at full Moon.

 

 

 

  • MOON’s 18.6 year cycle

How the Moon Devastated a Mangrove Forest

In 2015 the moon’s wobble and an El Niño teamed up to kill off tens of millions of Australian mangroves

How the Moon Devastated a Mangrove Forest
Gray mangroves are sensitive to water level. Credit: Gary Bell/Oceanwide/Minden Pictures

The mystery emerged in 2015, when nearly 10 percent of the seemingly healthy mangrove forest along northern Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria suddenly died. Scientists initially blamed this crucial ecosystem’s die-off solely on an unusually strong El Niño, a weather pattern that periodically siphons water away from the western Pacific and lowers local tides. But a new study published in Science Advances reveals that El Niño had a stealthy accomplice: the moon.

Researchers analyzed more than 30 years of national satellite data to narrow down the suspect list. “It was just the most phenomenal data set,” says the study’s lead author Neil Saintilan, a biogeographer at Macquarie University in Australia. A pattern quickly emerged—about every 18 to 19 years, mangrove tree cover along the Gulf of Carpentaria thinned out significantly before bouncing back to normal within a couple of years. And roughly nine years after each such die-off, the mangrove canopies became unusually dense.

That regularity gave the researchers an important clue. “Nature’s usually pretty chaotic,” Saintilan says. “If something is superregular, it’s probably some kind of orbital cycle.”

“The 18.6-year cycle is essentially driven by what we call a ‘wobble’” in the moon’s orbit, says climate dynamics researcher Sophie Wilmes, who studies tides at Bangor University in Wales and was not involved in the mangrove investigation. Lunar gravity affects daily ocean tides worldwide. As the moon’s orbit oscillates, or wobbles, over 18.6 years, it creates regular, sustained periods of unusually high or low tides in certain places. This effect is especially strong in the Gulf of Carpentaria; its low tides can drop by an average of 40 centimeters because of its location relative to the equator and the shape of Australia’s coastline.

Indeed, the researchers found that Australia’s 2015 mangrove die-off fell 18 and a half years after the previous one. And because of the 2015 El Niño, the trees were hit with a low-tide double whammy: El Niño decreased tides an additional 40 centimeters, a fatal blow to water-loving mangroves.

Although the orbital mechanics of the moon’s wobble have been studied extensively, “there hasn’t been much work that looks at its impact on ecology,” Wilmes says, “so it’s a really cool paper.” In the future, Saintilan and his colleagues hope to look at whether this phenomenon affects mangrove forests in other parts of the world. They also want to study how sea-level rise driven by climate change will alter this natural ecological pattern. A moderate rise might mitigate some of the tidal drop, helping to preserve mangrove forests, but an extreme rise could drown the trees at the cycle’s highest tidal point. “We might be able to anticipate when—or if—we’ll start to see some big problems in terms of mangroves coping,” Saintilan says.

This article was originally published with the title “Mangrove Moon” in Scientific American 327, 6, 22 (December 2022)doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1222-22b

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s in the Sky in October

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The Sun now past the Southward Equinox, the Southern Hemisphere is heading into warmer weather as we approach perihelion with the Sun.

  • 10th  Moon at Apogee, furthest point from Earth this month, 14:43hrs AEDT,  distance from Earth 405,424.7 km.
  • 18th Saturn is a stunning object nearly overhead in the evening with several moons of Saturn being clearly visible in our telescopes. At Magnitude o.65, distance 1389.3 million km, 77.24 light minutes away.
  • Jupiter is rising at 20:12 hrs AEDT and currently in the constellation of Aries.
  • 26th Moon at Perigee, Closest point to Earth this month, 14:05hrs AEDT, distance from Earth 364,874.7km.

 

  • 29th Partial Eclipse of the Moon begins at 05:00hrs AEDT in the early morning  in Ballarat.

the Moon will be setting at 6.20am as it enters the Umbra of Earth’s shadow. Jupiter is just East of the Moon. The Moon should darken as it sets.

What’s in the Sky in September

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September

 

The best time to observe the dust orbiting Earth, which is known as the Zodiacal Light, is around the Southward Equinox which falls this year on 23rd September  AEST.
So a couple of days either side you can look for it.
You do need a dark sky to see the zodiacal light so head to the darkest sky you can reach and look just after sunset. Turn off unnecessary lighting to help keep the night dark.
  • 1st Saturn is just past Opposition ( closest position to Earth, which was on 27th August and is a stunning evening object at Magnitude o.4, distance 1309.9 million km, 72.82 light minutes away.
  • 13th  Moon at Apogee, furthest point from Earth this month, 01:43hrs AEST,  distance from Earth 402,292.4 km.
  • 23rd Southward Equinox 16:50:25hrs AEST.
  • 23rd 7.00pm AEST magnitude 5.1 Comet Nishimura a very faint object near Mars, 5 degrees above the horizon. The comet is moving away from Earth, towards behind the Sun.
  • 28th Moon at Perigee, Closest point to Earth this month, 11:01hrs AEST, distance from Earth 359,914.3km.

 

 

  • Universal Nomenclature of the      Equinoxes and Solstices Each celestial object has coordinates similar to a street directory to locate its’ position in the heavens.Celestial Sphere – An imaginary sphere surrounding the Earth on which the celestial bodies appear to lie.Celestial Longitude (CLong) – coordinateon the Celestial Sphere that corresponds tothe longitude on Earth and is measuredfrom 00.00h. Measured in hours, minutes, seconds or sometimes given as degrees,minutes seconds corresponding to degrees

    in a circle, ie 360 degrees.

     

    Celestial Latitude (CLat)– corresponds to latitude on Earth’s surface and is measured

    in degrees, minutes, seconds. Up to 90

    degrees North (Nth) or South (Sth) of the Celestial Equator.

    + for the Northern Hemisphere,

    – for the Southern Hemisphere.

     

    Celestial Equator – directly above the

    Equator on the Earth’s surface.

     

    Northward Equinox – Day & Time the

    Sun crosses the Celestial Equator travelling into the northern Hemisphere. 00.00h CLong

     

    North Solstice   – Date and Time Sun reaches its’ furthest northern position ~ 23.5 degrees Nth. of the Celestial Equator. The Tropic of

    Cancer on the Earth’s surface, northern limit

    of Sun overhead.

                       

    Southward Equinox – Day and Time

    Sun crosses the Celestial Equator travelling into the Southern Hemisphere.

     

    South Solstice – Date and Time the Sun

    reaches its furthest s outhern position ~ 23.5 degrees Sth. of the Celestial Equator.

    The Tropic of Capricorn on the Earth’s

    Surface, southern limit of Sun overhead.

     

    The preceeding 4 terms indicate:

    1.Direction of the Earth’s Poles

    relative to the Sun.

    2.Extent of the Nth/Sth movement

    of the Sun overhead

    3.Direction of seasonal change of the

    position of the Sun due to the angle of the

    Earth’s axis of rotation,  ~ 23.5  degrees.

    Ecliptic – Path of the Sun against the background of the stars.

     SCP – South Celestial Pole

    NCP -North Celestial Pole

    Both directly above the Earth’s Poles.

     

    The Point of Northward Precession –

     The point the Sun crosses  the Celestial Equator travelling  into the Northern Hemisphere. The point is actually moving 1/7 sec/day. It is linked  to Celestial Longitude as the point slowly  slips along the Celestial Equator.

     

    Epoch   For a printed map the stars positions are fixed and so the Epoch date needs to be stated, ie Current Epoch is 2000.  Printed star maps are good for about 50 years, then the next epoch data is required for astronomers, ie next epoch will be 2050.

     

    Tropical Year – Time for the Sun to travel from one Northward Equinox to next,

    365.2422 days.

     

    Siderial Year – Time taken for the Earth to complete one orbit relative to the fixed stars, 365.2564 days.

     

    The difference between the Tropical and Siderial years is due to the effects of

    precession, a gradual westward drift in the ecliptic. The gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon on the Earth’s equatorial bulge cause

    the Earth’s axis to trace out  a circle on the sky every 25,800yrs.

     

    Judith Bailey – Ballarat Municipal Observatory & Museum

    E:  info@ballaratobservatory.org.au 0429 199 312

     

    First printed 18.3.2010 Updated 20/7/2022

  • 27th  Jupiter is at opposition and closest for 59 years. Viewing available at the Observatory Book Online
  • 2nd Oct Daylight Savings begins. AEDT Time.

What’s in the Sky in June

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June

At this time of the year, as Winter embraces the Southern Hemisphere, the middle of our Milky Way galaxy in the constellation of Sagittarius, is rising in the East.

  • 7th  Lunar Perigee, closest approach of the Moon for the month 09:06hr AEST, Dist. 364,862.9km.
  • 18th Mercury is visible all month, an early  morning object rising at 06:26hrs AEST.
  • 18th Saturn is rising late at night, 22.41hrs AEST, in the constellation of Aquarius and is East of Formalhaut, a double star Mag +1.23 and +24.60 giving an overall magnitude as one star of +1.16 in the constellation Piscis Austrinus, the Southern fish.
  • 18th Jupiter is rising in the early hours of the morning at 03:38hrs AEST  at a distance of 831.0 million km, 46.20 light minutes.
  • 19th The Moon is lowest in the sky on this day, at 28 degrees North of the Equator.
  • 22nd The North Solstice, the time when the Sun is at it’s furthest point North, occurs at 00:58hrs AEST. This is the shortest day of the year. Come and learn about the solstices, equinoxes and seasons on this day from 2pm.
  • 23rd Lunar Apogee, when the Moon is furthest from the Earth 04.31hrs AEST,  405,386.2km.
  • 29th This day is the latest sunrise of the year.

What’s in the Sky in January

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January

  • Quadrantid meteor shower (QUA) Active from December 26th to January 16th. The Quadrantids have the potential to be the strongest shower of the year but usually fall short due to the short length of maximum activity (6 hours) and the poor weather experienced during early January. The average hourly rates one can expect under dark skies is 25. These meteors usually lack persistent trains but often produce bright fireballs. Due to the high northerly declination (celestial latitude) these meteors are not well seen from the southern hemisphere.
  • Shower details – Radiant: 15:20 +49.7° – ZHR: 120 – Velocity: 25 miles/sec (medium – 40.2km/sec) – Parent Object: 2003 EH (Asteroid)Next Peak – The Quadrantids peak on the Jan 3-4, 2023 night. On this night, the moon will be 92% full. Credit: IMO.
  • At this time of the year the Great Orion Nebula is rising in the East.  Just East of Orion is the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, Alpha Canis major.
  • 7th Latest sunset of the Year 21:49:26hrs AEDT at the Observatory.
  • 8th Lunar Apogee 20:19hr AEDT, Dist. 406,459km
  • 12th Mercury rises 05:43hrs AEDT, dist. 103/1 million km, mag. 2.4.
  • 12th Saturn Setting at 22:33hrs AEDT, dist. 1,593.6 million km, mag. 0.8.
  • 12th Jupiter 4 degrees Nth of the Moon, distance 775.1 million km, mag. -2.3.
  • 22nd Lunar Perigee, closest approach for the month 07:53hr AEDT, Dist. 3556,570km.

What’s in the Sky in November

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  • 2nd Saturn at mag. 0.7 rising 11:49hr AEDT, Dist. 1,442,603,653km. Tilt of Saturn’s North pole towards Earth is 15.2591 degrees.
  • 2nd Jupiter is a brilliant  evening object during November rising at 16:35AEDT,  mag. -2.8, dist. 620,876,832km, tilt of North Pole towards Earth is 2.3626 degrees.
  • 2nd Venus at mag. -4.0 and rising just after the Sun at 06:28hrs AEDT, Dist. 256.336,497km.
  • 2nd Mars is a late night object rising at 23:36AEDT a very distant object Mag. -1.3  Dist. 92,101,928km. Tilt of North pole towards Earth is 0.5803 degrees. Mars is coming lcoser to earth and will reach opposition on 8th December.
  • 2nd Mercury is an early morning object rising at 06:09hrs AEDT just before the Sun. Mag. -0.41.5, dist. 210,359,993km. Tilt of North Pole towards earth is 0.7757degrees.
  • 8th Total Lunar Eclipse  special event.
  • 12th The two Taurid Meteor Shower branches reach their highest rates around October 10 (Southern Taurids, 002 STA) and November 12 (Northern Taurids, 017 NTA), respectively. Both dates are close to the Moon’s full phase.  However, observers should be alert as 2022 is again a “Taurid swarm” year after 2012 and 2016. Meteoroids concentrated in resonant orbits may result in higher rates and may include larger objects, causing bright fireballs between end October and about November 10. This is an early morning event, image is for 03:30hrs AEDT.
  • 13th Moon Lowest, 28 degrees Nth.
  • 17th Leonids Meteor shower peak is 23hrs UT (10:00hrs AEDT on 18th Nov) best visibility at predawn.

Leonids (LEO)Active: November 6—30; Z ~ 10; V∞ = 71 km/s.

The parent comet of this shower, 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, passed its perihelion last in 1998, more than two decades ago now. Meanwhile the comet has passed its aphelion. The knowledge of the dust ejection mechanisms and trail evolution allowed us to predict and verify variable activity in numerous years until recently.
The nodal Leonid maximum occurs on 2022 November 17.
Additionally, there are a few encounters with dust trails in the following days:
Model calculations of Maslov (2007) and Sato (2021) show an approach of the 1733 dust trail on November 19. Maslov gives 06h UT, Sato obtains 06h20m 􀀀 06h27m UT ( = 236 :576
and  = 236 :581; di erent ejection velocities).
The possible activity level depends on the ejection velocity (which has a negative sign in this case and observations of meteors from such trails are scarce).

Maslov adds: meteors should be bright, a ZHR of 200+ seems possible despite the uncertainties. Sato comments: ZHR may
reach 50+ because the model suggests that the dust tends to be concentrated.
18 IMO INFO(3-21)
An encounter with the 1600 trail (weak rate possible near November 18, 07h UT;  =235 :6) is found by Vaubaillon (2021). A weak rate enhancement may be visible due to the 1800
trail later on November 21, 15h UT (Maslov, 2007).
The nodal maximum occurs just after the Moon’s last quarter phase, and the conditions are slightly better for the later encounters. Visual observers need to shield the direct moonlight. The shower’s radiant is usefully observable only after local midnight or so north of the equator, later for places further south.Credit:IMO.

 

Right: Engraving by Adolf Vollmy (1889)

This famous engraving of the 1833 Leonid meteor shower was produced for the Adventist book Bible Readings for the Home Circle by Adolf Vollmy. It’s based on a painting by Swiss artist Karl Jauslin, which, in turn, was based on a first-person account of the 1833 storm by a minister, Joseph Harvey Waggoner, who saw the 1833 shower on his way from Florida to New Orleans.

In that famous shower, hundreds of thousands of meteors per hour were seen! It was the first recorded meteor storm of modern times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • 26th Moon at Perigee 12:34 AEDT  Perigee distance 362,825.6km
  • 26th Moon at it’s highest altitude 27 Degrees.
  • 21st Alpha Monocerotids Meteor Shower Peak in the evening.

Monocerotids (246 AMO) Active: November 15– 25; Maximum: November 21st 23:30hrs UT (10:30hrs AEDT 22nd Nov) ; ZHR up to 5; V∞ = 42 km/s.

The most recent -Monocerotid outbursts have been observed in 1995 (ZHR  420) and 2019 (ZHR  120). In both cases, the peak lasted for just ve minutes, the entire outbursts 30 minutes. The next strong AMO outburst is unlikely before 2043. Despite all this, observers are
advised to monitor the AMO annually to complete our knowledge about this stream. New Moon on November 23 provides us with favourable observing conditions. Credit: IMO.

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What’s in the Sky in July

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Image: Looking towards the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy.  Credit: Mark Justice

July

At this time of the Year the spectacular heart of our Milky Way Galaxy is rising in the East.

  • The Centre of our Milky Way Galaxy is now rising in the late evening and the splendour of the Emu, brightest in dark skies, fills the night.
  • 13th Moon at Perigee, closest to Earth for the month, 19:04hrs, 357,263.2km.
  • 19th  Saturn is rising at 19:35hrs AEST and is at a distance 1,341,189,928 km, magnitude +0.5 and is moving closer and due to reach opposition on 15th August.
  • 20th International Moon Day
  • 26th Moon at Apogee, furthest from Earth for the month 20:22hrs AEST, 406, 273.1km.
  • 19th Jupiter is rising at 23:11hrs AEST with magnitude -2.6, distance 679,669 km.

Meteor Showers

5 July
The ANT is the chief focus for visual attention in the first half of July, as its radiant area moves steadily through eastern Sagittarius, then across northern Capricornus into southwest Aquarius. ZHRs for most of the month should be  2 to 3. For about a week around July 10, low activity may be observed from the July-Pegasids (175 JPE), this year in moonlit skies.
After mid-July the large ANT radiant area overlaps that of the minor -Capricornids (001 CAP) into August, but the lower apparent velocity of the CAP allows observers to separate the two. The stronger and faster Southern -Aquariids (005 SDA) should be distinguishable from the ANT as well. Finally, the radiant of the Piscis Austrinids (183 PAU) is distant enough from the ANT area. Association of meteors with one of the three radiants should be reliably possible particularly from the southern hemisphere. The highest rates are due on July 27 (PAU) and July 30 (CAP, SDA), respectively.
On 2016 July 28 at 00h07m UT ( = 125 :132) the July -Draconids (184 GDR) produced an outburst detected by radar and video observations (Molau et al., 2016b). The same position is reached again on 2022 July 28 near 17h UT, worth checking in case something may be observable around this time { although there was no activity observed in 2017 { 2020 (2021 still to come).
The radiant is at = 280,  = +51, and the meteors have low speed (V1 = 27 km/s). 12 IMO INFO(3-21)
Full Moon on August 12 will badly a ffect optical observations of the Perseid (007 PER) activity around their maximum. The timing of the nodal maximum at  = 140 :0 (2022 August 13, shortly after 01h UT) favours west European locations. The moon in Aquarius perhaps allows to observe the northern sky, but with severe light pollution.
Close to the highest Perseid activity, there is another approach to a calculated 1-revolution dust trail of comet C/1852 K1. A preceding approach is calculated for 2021 August 12 (and still awaits to be observed). The 2022 encounter on August 12, 04h22m UT, has a larger minimum distance between the orbits of the Earth and the comet than the 2021 approach (0.00040 au vs.0.00010 au). Considering only this parameter, the probability of any activity may be lower in
2022, but we do not know the extension and structure of the assumed trail.

Piscis Austrinids (183 PAU)
Active: July 15{August 10; Maximum: July 28 ( = 125); ZHR = 5;
V1 = 35 km/s; r = 3:2.
Still very little information has been collected on the PAU over the years although the shower is in all working lists (and \established” in the IAU list). Details on the shower are not well confi rmed, mainly because of the large amount of northern hemisphere summer data, and the relatively small number of southern hemisphere winter results, on it. View in the West, above Saturn and below Fomalhaut, before sunrise as early as possible.

 

Southern -Aquariids (005 SDA)
Active: July 12{August 23; Maximum: July 30 ( = 127); ZHR = 25;
V1 = 41 km/s; r = 2:5 (see text).
The shower belongs to the most active sources in the southern hemisphere. Radio work can pick up the SDA as well, and indeed the shower has sometimes given a surprisingly strong radio signature. Data collected by experienced observers under exceptional conditions in 2008 and IMO INFO(3-21) 13 2011 show that the maximum ZHR of the southern -Aquariids is around 25 for about two days. The ZHR exceeds 20 between  = 124 and 129. During the maximum
there are numerous bright SDA meteors visible, causing r  2:5 around the maximum and r  3:1 away from the peak period. In the past there were also outbursts observed: Australian observers reported a ZHR of 40 in the night 1977 July 28/29; again a ZHR of 40 was observed for 1.5 hours on 2003 July 28/29 from Crete (the ZHR before and after the outburst was around 20). Unfortunately, the 2003 observation was not confi rmed by other observers active in the
period. The extensive 2011 data set showed no ZHR enhancement at the same solar longitude as in 2003. The activity level and variations of the shower need to be monitored. New Moon on July 28 is optimal for all optical observations. While at mid-northern latitudes only a small portion of the shower meteors is visible, conditions signi ficantly improve the further south the location is.

ANT -Capricornids (001 CAP)
Active: July 3{August 15; Maximum: July 30 ( = 127); ZHR = 5;
V1 = 23 km/s; r = 2:5.
The CAP and SDA radiants were both de nitely detected visually in all years, standing out against those much weaker ones supposed active in Capricornus-Aquarius then. Although the radiant of the CAP partly overlaps that of the large ANT region, the low CAP velocity should allow both video and visual observers to distinguish between the two sources. Frequently, bright and at times reball-class shower meteors are seen. Minor rate enhancements have been reported at a few occasions in the past. The highest observed ZHR of  10 dates back to 1995. Recent results suggest the maximum may continue into July 31.

DATA Credit: IMO

 

What’s in the Sky in February

/in /by

February

  • 5th Saturn in conjunction with the Sun.
  • 6th Luna lowest altitude 26 degrees North of the Celestial Equator.
  • 11th The Large Magellanic Cloud  (LMC) reaches highest altitude about 9.30pm AEDT at magnitude 0.28. The LMC is a spiral galaxy in Dorado at a distance of 160kly and a diameter of 29.7kly in diameter.  The Tarantula Nebula, NGC 2070 is located in this area and is magnitude 5. it is 1,833ly in diameter. The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) located nearby is a spiral Galaxy in Tucana and 200kly in distance and 17.5kly in diameter. visual magnitude is 2.29. These two irregular dwarf are members of our local group and are orbiting the Milky Way Galaxy.
  • Kourtchin (Boorong) refer to the Magellanic Clouds as the male (LMC) and female (SMC), brolgas. Each cloud resembles the colour and pitted shell of the brolga egg. Brolgas breed from October to April , when the clouds are at their highest, extending into nearby stars the larger one is trumpeting and the smaller one displaying, but dancing as a pair towards each other.

 

 

  • 11th Saturn, Venus, Mercury and Mars are rising before the Sun.
  • 11th Mercury has joined Saturn, Venus and Jupiter in a quadruple conjunction in the morningg sky.
  • 11th Luna Apogee, furthest distance from Earth for the month 12:38hr AEDT 404,898.3km.
  • 15th Venus a thin crescent, magnitude -4.9 a very bright object in the morning sky, distance 63,656,982km  27.4%illuminated.
  • 26th Luna at it’s highest altitude, 26 degrees South of the Celestial Equator.
  • 27th Moon at Perigee 8:26hrs AEDT, 367,792.0 km.
  • 28th Mars 3 degrees Nth and Venus 8 degrees  Nth of Luna.

 

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