[ETL]

An (hopefully) interesting aside: Both planets are currently in the constellation Sagittarius. The center of our Milky Way galaxy lies 30,000 light years off in the general direction of Sagittarius. One light year, the *distance* light travels in one year at its non-wavering speed of 186,000 miles per second, works out to about 6 trillion miles (actually 5.9 trillion). And so the center of our galaxy, then, is approximately 30,000 x ~6 trillion miles away from here.

heavens-above.com
http://heavens-above.com/

[JRios1968]

Both planets are currently in the constellation Sagittarius. The center of our Milky Way galaxy lies 30,000 light years off in the general direction of Sagittarius. One light year, the *distance* light travels in one year at its non-wavering speed of 186,000 miles per second, works out to about 6 trillion miles (actually 5.9 trillion). And so the center of our galaxy, then, is approximately 30,000 x ~6 trillion miles away from here.

And it's all Bush's Fault.

[WayneS]

Bright Venus continues moving closer to bright Jupiter

GOSH! Do you think they'll collide?

;^)

[ComputerGuy]

Thanks for the post. I saw both of them last night - figured them for planets, but didn't know which ones.
Venus was especially bright.

[Tax-chick]

ping

[ozark hilljilly]

Thanks for that info!
I’ve been admiring the display every evening now for days and wondered which were which. I knew one was Jupiter.
(IR not much an astronomer.)
Both are quite brilliant and large in our dark rural sky!

[EggsAckley]

Most EXCELLENT thread! Thank you for posting it. We’ve had over a week of very clear warm nights and I’ve been seeing stars I’ve never noticed before, it’s that clear. And yes, Venus is huge. Yes indeed, for several days there I was wondering if it WAS a slow moving “vehicle” light. I mean, it was moving too slow to be a vehicle, but seemed to be moving way too fast to be a star.

Also, looking further toward the southwest I’m seeing what I always (probably incorrectly) called Orion’s Belt. When I first see it, the three big center stars are just about vertical to the earth, but hours later they are almost horizontal.

Such a treat it’s been. (nice having an outdoor hot tub!)

[ETL]

Also check the heavens-above website for International Space Station-Space Shuttle passes that might be visible from your particular location. Of course you'll first have to tell them where the heck you are! The Station can potentially be very bright, depending on how high in the sky the pass is (assuming it will in fact pass over your part of the world). And with the Shuttle currently attached to it it should be even brighter. Check the site below and/or spaceweather.com for schedules. Spaceweather makes it a lot easier. All you need to provide them is your zip code!

See heavens-above.com for more info. After registering, look on the main page for ISS (International Space Station):
http://heavens-above.com/

spaceweather.com:
http://spaceweather.com/

[LiteKeeper]

Kewl

[Plutarch]

Venus is now extremely bright and easily seen by naked eye...

Easily seen, heck, such is its brightness, you could read a newspaper by it, that is, if anyone still read newspapers.

[dead]

Bump! Cool stuff. Thanks!

[Constitutions Grandchild]

You know, there’s actually a theory that this is the same configuration of planets that was thought to be the “Star” the wise men from the East followed to find Jesus.

When they eclipsed each other, the caused an amazing “star” to appear in the East.

Just reflecting.

[Cailleach]

ping!

[Zeppo]

Thanks for the info...

I just took advantage of a clearance sale on the 80mm Celestron Onyx refractor (and the Microsoft Live Search 25% cashback program through eBay 'buy it now'), and bought a bunch of accessories, and the last missing pieces arrived at my door this morning.

I've been meaning to set up my first 'observing plan' and this should help - I figure that I should be able to get both into my wide field of view at the same time... The only remaining questions are whether my southern horizon will cooperate and whether I can stand the wind-chill...

[ETL]

From spaceweather.com for Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008:

On Nov. 15th in the skies above China, a winged shadow flitted across the Moon. It couldn't have been a bird, however, because it was flying 17,000 mph:

"The International Space Station (ISS) transited the Moon at 3:38 China Standard Time," says Xin Li of the Beijing Planetarium. "We photographed the event using a Meade 8" LX200 and a ToUCam video camera." The flyby occurred not long after the space shuttle docked with the ISS, so there are actually two spacecraft in the picture. Can you find Endeavour?

Two nights later, Nov. 17th, the ISS and Endeavour passed in front of the Moon again, this time over Cracow, Poland (photo):

Lunar transits are not rare, but they can be challenging to observe because the space station crosses the 0.5o face of the Moon in a split second. Usually the human behind the camera sees nothing until a later search through video frames reveals the fleeting silhouette.

There is an easier way. Look for the "anti-silhouette." In other words, watch the glowing body of the space station cross the great expanse of the night sky. The ISS outshines Jupiter and often Venus; you can't miss it! All you need are flyby times.

More images: from Mark Staples of Waldo, Florida; from Pieter Ibelings of Atlanta, Georgia; from David Tremblay of Alto, New Mexico.

To view the additional images, see spaceweather.com for Nov 19, 2008:
http://www.spaceweather.com/