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| Seen through our Acacia tree. |
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| Around maximum eclipse. Note the notch to the upper left. |
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| This is closest to what the eclipse looked like. |
Friday, April 26, 2013
Photos from the April 25th mini-eclipse of the moon
I'm not usually an astrophotographer, but the little lunar eclipse of April 25 was too nice not to capture. I admit, I underestimated its charm. Only about 1.4% of the moon was eclipsed, the moon sliding just beneath the shadow of the earth as it waxed full. But the little nibble out of its north libm was quite a tasty morsel. Here are a few of my photos taken from Mitzpe Ramon. Which do you like best?
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Partial Lunar Eclipse of April 25, 2013 + Bonus Objects!
The first lunar eclipse of 2013 will be visible, but just barely, from Israel on the night of April 25, 2013. The moon will just barely enter the earth's shadow at 10:54PM local time. The time of greatest eclipse will begin at 11:07PM local time and will last less than 27 minutes. You should see just the tiniest "bite" taken out of the north limb of the moon.
As a bonus, the International Space Station (ISS) will be visible tonight from Israel, rising in the northwest at 8:57PM local time, and moving slowly toward the southeast when it will disappear three mintues later as it passes into the earth's shadow.
The bright object you see to the upper left of the moon tonight is Saturn whose magnificent ring system is visible in even small telescopes, but generally not binoculars. If you have a clear western horizon, you can watch Jupiter set in the west where it is the brightest object in the sky.
Let us know what you see and remember to Keep on lookin' up!
Related articles
As a bonus, the International Space Station (ISS) will be visible tonight from Israel, rising in the northwest at 8:57PM local time, and moving slowly toward the southeast when it will disappear three mintues later as it passes into the earth's shadow.
The bright object you see to the upper left of the moon tonight is Saturn whose magnificent ring system is visible in even small telescopes, but generally not binoculars. If you have a clear western horizon, you can watch Jupiter set in the west where it is the brightest object in the sky.
Let us know what you see and remember to Keep on lookin' up!
Related articles
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Great Meteor of 2013 Over Chelyabinsk, Russia, Just Before Dawn
I thought I'd have a little fun with a compendium of videos of the Great Chelyabinsk Meteor that fell just before dawn on February 15th in the Ural Mountains, 940 miles east of Russia. What do you think?
:-)
:-)
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Panorama of the Chelyabinsk Fireball Smoke Trail!
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| Panorama of the Chelyabinsk Fireball as it fell to earth on February 15, 2013. This is the smoke train left behind as the meteoroid, travelling at 40,000 mph, was incinerated by friction from the earth's atmosphere. The great heat, together with the huge differential pressure between the front and back of the meteoroid, caused it to explode about 12-15 miles above the earth. Click for full-size view. |
There is now speculation that the meteoroid may have been cometary in nature due to the bright white color of its trail, indicating water vapor rather than smoke arising from seared rock or metal. In addition, the trajectory, a pair of trails close together, spreading out, then comping back together is indicative of an object smoking from two ends of a single projectile, not one that blew apart. If it had blown apart it would not be seen to merge again later.
So, for now this meteoroid is speculated to be an icy, cometary body emitting steam from two ends as it is heated in the earth's atmosphere, spinning as it falls to earth.
/Ira
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Update on Chelyabinsk, Russia Meteor
The meteor that crashed near Chelyabinsk, Russia on Feb. 15, 2013 was about 50 now 55 feet in diameter when it entered the earth's atmosphere at an angle of 20 degrees to the horizon, moving at a speed of some 40,000 MPH and is estimated to have weighed 10,000 tons and delivered an explosive force of 300 now 500 kilotons of TNT, about 15x 25x the explosive force of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, ending WWII. It was about 1/3rd the size of mini-asteroid 2012 DA14 that coincidentally swept by the earth that same day at a distance of 17,200 miles. Although the chances of both coming so close to earth on the same day were minuscule, according to NASA the two were unrelated since the Chelyabinsk Meteor came from a completely different direction. Over 1,100 people were injured, mostly by breaking glass from the exploding fireball.
It is not uncommon for stony meteors to explode in flight. The Chelyabinsk Meteor exploded into fragments at a height of about 12-15 miles, according to NASA. You can see and hear the explosion in many of the videos that were posted online.
Chelyabinsk is a large industrial city about 920 miles west of Moscow in the Ural Mountains. It is the location of one of only two plutonium processing plants in Russia whose output is used in making nuclear bombs. Had this meteorite struck during the cold war it could have mistakenly triggered nuclear armageddon.
As of this writing the only sign of the meteoroid on the ground is this 30 foot wide hole a fragment of it made in the ice covering Lake Chebarkul near the town of Chelyabinsk. The temperatures here get below 0 degrees Fahrenheit at night, so the ice is probably over 12 inches thick. So far Russian divers have found nothing in the lake, an unfortunate place for a large chunk to have landed since it will quickly become contaminated with debris from earth.
Here is a terminological clarification:
Meteor: A streaking light in the sky, caused by a rock from space burning up as it enters the earth's atmosphere. Also called a "shooting star".
Meteoroid: The rock that burns up in the earth's atmosphere.
Meteorite: What a meteoroid is called when it strikes the earth, leaving pieces of itself behind.
Bolide: A meteor so bright that it can be seen in the daytime.
Fireball: Common name for a bolide.
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| Orbits of asteroid 2012 DA14 and the Chelyabinsk Meteor. The Chelyabinsk Meteor was estimated at 15 feet in diameter (contrary to the caption here), weighing 10,000 tons, entering the earth's atmosphere from the direction of the sun in daylight. NASA has traced it's orbit back originating in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroid 2012 DA 14 was some 3x larger in size, comparable to the size of the Space Shuttle, and passed close by earth at a distance of 17,200 miles, between the ring of orbiting geosynchronous satellites and the surface of our planet. |
It is not uncommon for stony meteors to explode in flight. The Chelyabinsk Meteor exploded into fragments at a height of about 12-15 miles, according to NASA. You can see and hear the explosion in many of the videos that were posted online.
Chelyabinsk is a large industrial city about 920 miles west of Moscow in the Ural Mountains. It is the location of one of only two plutonium processing plants in Russia whose output is used in making nuclear bombs. Had this meteorite struck during the cold war it could have mistakenly triggered nuclear armageddon.
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| Comparison of different size meteors and the damage they can inflict. The Tunguska Event, also in Russia in 1908, destroyed 800 square miles of Siberian Forest. Had it fallen in a populated area it would have been an unparalleled disaster. The 10 kilometer asteroid that fell 65 million years ago in what is now Mexico was a planet killer, wiping out the dinosaurs and some 90% of the species then living. |
As of this writing the only sign of the meteoroid on the ground is this 30 foot wide hole a fragment of it made in the ice covering Lake Chebarkul near the town of Chelyabinsk. The temperatures here get below 0 degrees Fahrenheit at night, so the ice is probably over 12 inches thick. So far Russian divers have found nothing in the lake, an unfortunate place for a large chunk to have landed since it will quickly become contaminated with debris from earth.
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| A thirty-foot hole in Lake Chebarkul marks the landing place of a fragment of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite. |
Here is a terminological clarification:
Meteor: A streaking light in the sky, caused by a rock from space burning up as it enters the earth's atmosphere. Also called a "shooting star".
Meteoroid: The rock that burns up in the earth's atmosphere.
Meteorite: What a meteoroid is called when it strikes the earth, leaving pieces of itself behind.
Bolide: A meteor so bright that it can be seen in the daytime.
Fireball: Common name for a bolide.
Friday, February 15, 2013
OMG!!! Giant Meteorite Strikes Russia! 500 people Reported Injured!!!
On the day of the close passage of asteroid 2012 DA14, a giant meteor was seen creating a fireball above the town of Chelyabinsk, Russia in the Ural mountains 950 miles east of Moscow. Five hundred people were reported inured, mostly by flying glass, so far none seriously, as it exploded in the skies above town and crashed to earth nearby.
This is the third time in a little more than 100 years that Russia has been struck by a gigantic meteorite or comet/asteroid. In 1908 a huge comet, some think asteroid, obliterated a large Siberian forest, the Tunguska Event. In 1947, the largest witnessed fall of a meteorite in modern times occurred in the Sikhote-Alin mountains of eastern Siberia, dropping over 100 tons of meteoritic material, and now this event on Feb. 15, 2013, size as yet unknown. This will be a field day for meteorite hunters and scientists. One cannot help but speculate that this event is connected to the close passage of asteroid 2012 DA14 happening later tonight. It seems too odd to be a coincidence, but lots more work remains to be done.
In the mean time, treat yourselves to this compilation of dashboard videos that show the giant meteor as it passes over Chelyabinsk, Russia.
A straight-on view as the meteor roars overhead, followed by earth shattering explosions.
Compilation of dashboard videocams.
Huge explosions in this video!
Student video near university with huge explosions and glass breaking everywhere.
The Sikhote-Alin meteorite fell on February 12, 1947, strikingly close in time to the fall of today's meteorite, and not that far away in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains of eastern Siberia. There were not many cameras around then, but the fall was witnessed by a nearby artist, P.J. Medvedev, who painted a picture that was reproduced in a Soviet Union stamp issued 10 years later to commemorate the event. Much was learned about meteorites from that fall, and even more will be learned from today's.
Related articles
This is the third time in a little more than 100 years that Russia has been struck by a gigantic meteorite or comet/asteroid. In 1908 a huge comet, some think asteroid, obliterated a large Siberian forest, the Tunguska Event. In 1947, the largest witnessed fall of a meteorite in modern times occurred in the Sikhote-Alin mountains of eastern Siberia, dropping over 100 tons of meteoritic material, and now this event on Feb. 15, 2013, size as yet unknown. This will be a field day for meteorite hunters and scientists. One cannot help but speculate that this event is connected to the close passage of asteroid 2012 DA14 happening later tonight. It seems too odd to be a coincidence, but lots more work remains to be done.
In the mean time, treat yourselves to this compilation of dashboard videos that show the giant meteor as it passes over Chelyabinsk, Russia.
A straight-on view as the meteor roars overhead, followed by earth shattering explosions.
Compilation of dashboard videocams.
Huge explosions in this video!
Student video near university with huge explosions and glass breaking everywhere.
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| A photo of the Russian meteor fireball as it crashed to earth in Russia on Feb 15, 2013 in Chelyabinsk, Russia. |
The Sikhote-Alin meteorite fell on February 12, 1947, strikingly close in time to the fall of today's meteorite, and not that far away in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains of eastern Siberia. There were not many cameras around then, but the fall was witnessed by a nearby artist, P.J. Medvedev, who painted a picture that was reproduced in a Soviet Union stamp issued 10 years later to commemorate the event. Much was learned about meteorites from that fall, and even more will be learned from today's.
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| The Sikhote-Alin meteorite fall of February 12, 1947 was commemorated 10 years later on this Soviet stamp. The artist lived nearby and painted this picture as he witnessed the event. |
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