Posted by: @stargazer

It's a great time of year to enjoy Orion and company without worrying about frostbite.

Indeed! I absolutely love stargazing this time of year. And I do so enjoy spotting Arcturus both in mornings and in the evenings now.

This morning's walk was wonderful at +2°C / 35.6°F. And I had the best of both worlds: when I walked out at 6:15 a.m. (still very dark, as the sun did not rise until 7:51), the very low clouds were quite the sight: many shades and hues and textures. Really beautiful in a mysterious way. But then 15 minutes into my walk I noticed that in places of the sky, small wells of clear were opening up, so I spotted Mars at one point, for example. I then saw how fast the clouds were moving, so as that huge mass quickly floated off to the south, it left behind a stunningly clear sky. At one point the dark sky was split in half, with clouds on the left; stars on the right. Really lovely to see.

After that, I could see Arcturus rising in the east. By 7 a.m. it was about 10° above the horizon. But my greatest treat this morning was ... a fireball. What a cool surprise! I just happened to be facing the right direction at that very second. I was then walking north and was looking up, as usual, when a very bright light caught my eyes, heading from the SSW toward the north. I saw a ball at one end, then quickly it turned green, flared up, and 'exploded'. This fireball was not as long or slow as some I have seen—instead fast and quite short in length—but it was still amazing, and I gasped as it occurred, taking probably only two seconds, max. After the explosion, there was definite fragmentation. So cool!
I must report that one on the American Meteor Society page.

I enjoyed reading your report, @jo, both here and on the AMS site.

Our weather is glorious right now and I've been outside a lot lately. The other morning I finally spotted Arcturus' orange glow in the dawn, and then saw it the following evening. And now I am house/pet-sitting for friends who live in the south metro, which means the southern sky is less affected by city lights. Orion was spectacular this morning, with his sword much more easily visible than from where I usually observe.

It's almost time for the last total lunar eclipse visible anywhere in the world until March 2025. The Pacific Basin is best placed for viewing, with the eclipse occurring just before dawn in North America the morning of November 8, and occurring the evening of November 8 in Australia, New Zealand, and eastern Asia.

The article linked below has a lot of details and lists the times of the eclipse. Here in the central US, the partial eclipse begins at 3.09 am and ends at 6.49 (just before dawn, so the Moon will be very low in the west). Totality runs from 4.16 to 5.42 am (we're in the Central Time Zone, GMT -6). The farther west you live in North America, the more you will see before the sun comes up.

The planet Uranus will be very close to the Moon (actually being hidden by it as seen from Alaska) and visible in binoculars. The article has a diagram showing where to look.

This eclipse comes 6 months after the May one, and two weeks after a partial solar eclipse October 25.

Read all about it here.

Posted by: @stargazer

Orion was spectacular this morning, with his sword much more easily visible than from where I usually observe.

Very nice, stargazer. Oooh, I do so like Orion! And I have only recently learned how to spot Taurus in relation to the Mighty Hunter. I have had trouble before, so have just ignored the Bull, ha, but this year I was determined to pick it out. And now I am finally able to.  

Tomorrow morning, I will be setting up 'camp' in the field behind us. I will have my binoculars there, in hopes of viewing Uranus, along with mini gloves and a scarf, as we shall be sitting bang on freezing through the early morning hours. And I hope to capture some of this on camera. I won't/can't be up all night, but will arise between 4 and 4:30 EST to view. In EST, totality begins at 5:16. Excited!  

The forecast is clear well into the night, with partial clouds after midnight, then any clouds move out around 6 a.m. We shall see what we shall see.

The Northern (and Southern) Taurids are active now, so maybe some of us will see a meteor or two, for an added treat. Maybe even a fireball!

This morning's walk was beautiful, with that huge, orange Beaver Moon setting in the west. As it sank behind the hill west of town, it is like someone was pulling a blanket over it.  

Here in Michigan we saw the beginning of the lunar eclipse, but during totality the clouds blocked the view so I had to watch online coverage. The online coverage was very good so I wasn’t completely disappointed. 🙂

Yeah, I got up at 3am, it was completely overcast here so I just went back to bed. Lol

Glad you could at least watch online, narnian78! What a beauty, eh?

I am chuckling in sympathy, fantasia. I have been in your spot, where my area was heavy with cloud cover for a much-anticipated astronomical event. At least you got in a few more hours sleep.  

I awoke just after 4, and was out in the back cornfield (now harvested) by 4:30. The first shadow had appeared on the Moon and seemed shifty and wavering somehow. Quite mysterious. But as it grew, it settled out to a firmer distinction. There was forecast for possibly some cloud, but this was minimal, light, and more towards the horizon in the south. Above to the south and west was beautifully clear.

I set up my chair and a small table with all my gear laid out ... camera, phone, binoculars, mini gloves. The temperature was just below freezing, and very calm. Really, perfect viewing weather.

The shadow spread further and further across the full Beaver Moon. By 5:16, totality had begun. It lasted just under 1 & 1/2 hours. During that time, while enjoying the eclipse, itself, we peered all around the sky, noting various constellations, and admiring the wondrous Orion nebula through the binoculars.

One time when I had been looking at the sky towards the north, I turned around again to face south and west, and caught, extremely briefly, a large, bright green-ish flash. My husband had barely seen more, and said that was definitely a fireball, probably a northern Taurid.

As dawn grew, the mostly-covered Moon was sinking into the West, and the final sight I had of it was just under a half hour past totality, with its top crest pure white against the lightening sky in the west. Beautiful!

I did get some photos, but zoomed in way too far, so they are mostly blurry. Hence, it is best NOT to click on each one to enlarge, but simply enjoy viewing them on the main page, all together. The final three (early daytime) pics, taken shortly after 7 a.m., are better seen clicked on individually: https://photos.app.goo.gl/g2adnAuBefqNGD1Q9

Awesome report, Jo, thanks (though the link doesn't work for me).

It was overcast here yesterday, but the overcast broke around midnight to reveal a big bright Moon high in the south. But the weather forecast had called for this to happen, followed by the return of clouds during the eclipse.

The sky was overcast by the time the partial phase started, though I had a very brief glimpse of the Moon about half-covered  through a small gap in the clouds (around 3.40 CST). The clouds remained during totality, and when I left for the polls around 5.40. By the time I left there around 2.15 pm, we'd received a little much-needed rain, and there's more of that in the forecast.

The long overcast finally broke yesterday afternoon, with a strange yellow thing lighting up the sky. I hadn't had a clear-sky observation since late on November 7, so I was looking forward to the chance.

We were hosting a "friendsgiving" celebration here with local NarniaWebbers last night; in addition Rya's young niece and nephew were here. I enjoyed showing planets to NarniaWebbers, and a highlight was showing an ISS pass to Rya's niece (age 6-1/2) for the first time. It was cloudy again by midnight but it is clear now so there may be more stargazing this evening.

This week sees the earliest sunsets of the year (in mid-northern latitudes). For calendar-geek reasons, while the solstice is the year's shortest date, it has neither the earliest sunset nor the latest sunrise (and the closer one is to the equator, the bigger this offset).

Mars is big and bright and orange this week as it comes to opposition (opposite the sun and at its best, visible all night). A highlight this year is that the full moon will pass in front of (occult) Mars tomorrow (December 7 or 8 depending on your time zone). Much of North America is well-placed for a convenient evening viewing (here, Mars will be hidden from 9.03 to 10.09 pm Central Time). Occultation times are rather sensitive to location due to the large size and relative fast motion of the moon.

Read about Mars and its opposition here (scroll down for the occultation information).  A table showing specific times for cities around the world is also included. It is long and rather technical but you can find times for a city near you by searching for its name (rather than scrolling down the extensive city list). (The location starts with a 2 letter code which is by country, not state; for example, CA is Canada not California). Disappearance and reappearance times are listed in separate tables. Times given are Universal Time (close enough to Greenwich, or British, time). The internet can tell you how to convert to your own time (for example, my time zone, Central US, is 6 hours behind UTC).

We had crystal clear skies for the occultation. The sun went down around 4.30 pm and the big round full moon rose over the trees shortly thereafter, with Mars to its lower left. Temperatures slowly sank through the single digits F (-10 to -15C) through the evening.

I stepped out occasionally to watch the Moon approach Mars. The planet is normally nice and bright right now, but seemed to fade to a mere shadow of itself as the Moon approached. Once Mars was close to the Moon, binoculars were essential to see it.

I set up a camping chair so I could watch more conveniently; by the time of first contact the pair was 46 degrees high (about halfway up the sky), so leaning back in the chair was nice for these old bones. 😉

I was able to follow Mars up to a few seconds before it vanished (in binoculars) but missed the actual disappearance due to condensation on the lenses. Rya's father, who was also observing, saw the moment of disappearance.

About an hour later we were outside again; now the Moon was even higher (59 degrees). We knew where Mars would reappear, and both saw it pop out in binoculars. Very pretty! It was about another half hour before Mars was easily visible to the unaided eye. By 4.30 the next morning, Mars was about 3 degrees to the lower right of the Moon and had regained most of its usual luster.

Posted by: @stargazer

(though the link doesn't work for me).

Wups, sorry about that. I updated the link. Hopefully it works for you now.  

I very much enjoyed reading your occultation viewing report, stargazer. Thank you for that! It was so vivid I could picture it in my mind's eye. Sounds beautiful!

I was up early this morning (although not at the peak hour) to try to spot some Geminid meteors. The windchill was -15C; -9 without.

The sky had quite a few streaky-type clouds, and they were increasing. Plus, the Moon was fairly bright, even with the cloud cover. However, as I was walking east on the gravel road, I was looking down briefly to watch for ice and snow patches, and when I lifted my eyes again, and caught the middle and end of a ... fireball! (A matter of 1 second.) It was streaking, bright and long, from SW to the east, and at the end, a light green ball, which exploded near the horizon, but left no fragmentation. What a sight! And that was through clouds. I can imagine what it would have been like if there had been a clear sky!

I have reported this to the American Meteor Society; my report is still pending.

What a way to start the day!  

I enjoyed reading your fireball report here and on the AMS site, @jo. What a sight!

There was no Geminid viewing here as it has been cloudy (and snowy) since the night of the Mars occultation 10 days ago. But it cleared up last evening, and this morning I enjoyed the sight of the crescent Moon just above the summer star Spica.

2022 ends with Mercury and Venus fairly close together low in the evening twilight, but Mercury is fading fast as it falls back toward the sun (it passes inferior conjunction - between earth and sun - January 7).

Last evening was unexpectedly clear at sunset so I drove to my local viewing spot. Venus was fairly easy to spot in binoculars and then with the unaided eye, but Mercury was already too faint to see at all.

Alas, we have not had a clear night sky since before Christmas. There have been brief glimpses of the Moon, Mars or Jupiter through the thinner clouds, but then they disappear. I know it will be rather a shock when the sky finally clears (possibly on Monday night) as to how much the stars and planets have shifted since I last saw them in full view. And I am absolutely itching to see Venus low in the west at twilight. And Saturn too!

Tonight, however, held an unexpected treat. On my evening walk, heading east, I saw behind a stand of trees in the distance an orange glow—the full Wolf Moon was visible above the rim of the horizon, as it began rising for its night's jaunt across the sky. It was gorgeous. Huge and pumpkin-coloured. I am estimating that four 'regular-sized' high-in-the-sky, white Moons would have fit into this one. Then it was shuttered by the clouds and disappeared. On my way back west, I caught a short glimpse of Jupiter high in the south until it, too, was quickly hidden by clouds.