Well now that I've figured out the star chart is suppossed to be viewed as though you are looking up at it... and not down on it like a map, I'm ready for star gazing... We spotted the Ursa Major, Orion, Venus, and Jupiter again. Possibly Mars as well, but as this was before we figured out the directions of the star chart we are not sure... Which is depressing because Mars was pretty much oriented right under Leo... but I didn't figure that out until Dad insisted we go back in since he was getting cold...

Praying for some cloudless and homework free nights at college so I can look again.

Thanks for all the information, stargazer: Next time it clears up around here, I'll check for any predictions and see what I can find. I believe I've actually seen at least one bright one: I thought it must have been lightning at the time, but...the sky was clear . I've heard that really bright ones can be seen in daylight, if you know what you're looking for. It makes perfect sense that a few miles distance or a few seconds time would make a difference in spotting them, since it's basically a reflection of the sun off of the panels on the satellite.

It will be interesting to see if my Starry Night software is accurate in predicting them.

I've been familiar with heavens-above.com ever since the astronomy course, and found my first stars and planets using that. Then I purchased Stargirl and received the free version of Starry Night with her. I like it better than Stellarium, which I downloaded free after learning of it on the astronomy forum. I do use Stellarium sometimes, as I can get a view that closely resembles the view through my telescope to confirm if I've actually seen some deep sky object, but that's pretty much all I use it for: Starry Night has a more intuitive search function and more realistic close-up views. Stellarium seems to have resorted to retouched and filtered photos for those close-up views, and they just aren't realistic for my little unfiltered scope.

For those interested, I believe Stellarium is still a free download, and if you are inclined that way, it is open source, too, so there are different versions of it out there which you may be able to use to your advantage or change to fit your needs.

mm

Today marks the March equinox, when the sun appears over the earth's equator on its apparent journey north. The exact time is 0514 GMT (12:14 am in my timezone). It rises almost due east and sets almost due west; and day and night are approximately equal length worldwide. Spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern.

But these rapidly-lengthening days mean lomger waits for night to fall for stargazing.

Well thanks to the lovely aid of a star chart (which I finally figured out how to read) I spotted Leo I also spotted Ursa Major (aka the Big Dipper), Orion, Venus, and Jupiter again.

I may have seen Mars if it's visible... but I'm not sure if it is... I also think I saw the tail end of Draco, but it was blocked by a few trees.

Also thanks to the wonderful world of glasses... I believe I saw the Pleiades (aka the Seven Sisters)... whatever it was it was the "Micro-Dipper" I saw before. (Perhaps nearsightedness/ going blind has it's upsides?)

I tried to see the Little Dipper, but either we have too much light pollution, it was too far over the horizon, or I wasn't looking in quite the right spot.

Wolfloversk, if you saw Leo, you saw Mars...Mars is in Leo just now. I've put up some pictures below to help you confirm your observations of The Pleiades and Leo with Mars (mars is the little orange dot). Right now in the sky, Mars looks like the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, and has a definite red tint.

mm

I thought so... It was a rather orange star and yes it was essentially a part of Leo. My roommate said she thought her professor said it wasn't visible, but she may have confused it with something else.

I'm pretty sure it's the Pleiades... I don't suppose you would know where they were? I know that The Big Dipper and Leo were to my East in front of me and Orion was to the west behind me... they were in the west too, but I think they were further North of Orion...

Wolfloversk, below is a picture of the location of the Pleiades. It sounds as if that was, indeed, what you saw. When we look at at through binoculars, it looks to us like a rubber duck!

If you draw a line from Orion's shoulder (Betelgeuse) through Taurus's eye (Aldebaran) and straight out, you should find the big, sparkly, fuzzy spot of Pleiades.

mm

Pleiades are my favorite night sky object . You don't need a super expensive telescope to see them in all their glory, either. A cheap pair of binoculars will do the trick quite nicely

I found this article on MSN this morning. Apparently after a noted US astronomer (the article doesn't say if it's stargazer ) complained to director James Cameron about the stars that heroine Kate Winslet sees in the movie Titanic, he's decided to go back and change that scene to reflect what the night sky should look like. Very short article...almost a blurb.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=715277

, Shadowlander. While I like seeing starfields in movies and TV shows, and enjoy trying to identify what's in them, I'm not disappointed if they're inaccurate. Artistic license and all that. (In fact, I remember hearing at the time that the Titanic starfield actually included a representation of that jewel that caused all the trouble for Rose and Jack).

Still, Sky and Telescope magazine has published the occasional article about the real event, including one this month for the centennial about the possible role the Moon played in it (one of the surviving crewmembers pointed out at the time that "There was no moon" - if there had been, they may have seen the iceberg in time to steer clear). And a number of years ago they included a discussion of the sky at the time.

And the Pleiades are in the spotlight this week (especially tonight and tomorrow night), as bright Venus passes right through the cluster. Use binoculars; the planet is so bright it'll blot out the dimmer cluster.

(It appears I may not see this crossing; the Seattle weather is living up to its reputation of clouds and rain).

EDIT: I was rather surprised when the overcast cleared shortly after sunset. It was a beautiful evening, with a big bright Moon below Mars and Venus lighting up the west. As expected, it just about drowned out the much fainter cluster, but at 7x35, it was a glorious sight - something like this. A blazing star set among the diamonds of the Pleiades. Beautiful indeed!

I was reading an article this morning about spotting Mercury in the early morning hours. It looks like it's going to be especially visible for the people in the Southern Hemisphere, but I think the rest of us in the Northern Hemisphere will get a chance to see it too.

http://news.yahoo.com/see-elusive-plane ... 03300.html

I didn't get a chance to see Venus hanging out with the Pleiades. It's been cloudy and raining the past few nights. (And even if it hadn't been I'm not sure I could have seen it in town anyways.)

I'm far belated in this, but, Mother-Music, your astronomy project was amazing: so creative, clear, and interesting-looking, filled with info. Thanks for taking the time to post the photos. I hope you received one grand mark on that!

Thanks for posting that Variable Star link, stargazer. I don't know much about these, and wish to learn more.

M-M, I hope you can see an Iridium flare at some point. I find them fascinating, and if there is one, particularly if it's brighter (-7 or -8, although I find -5 on a clear night is a very good showing), I look forward to the view all day long.

We have a -8 coming up on Sunday evening, but it's supposed to rain that day, after a stretch of four clear nights. Wouldn't you know it ...

Well now that I've figured out the star chart is suppossed to be viewed as though you are looking up at it... and not down on it like a map, I'm ready for star gazing.

Yay, wolf! I know, a star chart takes a bit of getting used to. Glad you're getting some use from it (it's a wonderful resource), and are enjoying the night sky even more.

When clouds haven't covered the sky, I have so enjoyed watching Venus and Jupiter wend their ways through the night sky. I wasn't able to see Venus in the middle of the Pleiades because of cloud-cover, but last night cleared up, so caught the brilliant planet shining at the handle's end of the star cluster. Lovely.

stargazer, your description is so evocative, I just have to quote it hear again:

I was rather surprised when the overcast cleared shortly after sunset. It was a beautiful evening, with a big bright Moon below Mars and Venus lighting up the west. As expected, it just about drowned out the much fainter cluster, but at 7x35, it was a glorious sight - something like this. A blazing star set among the diamonds of the Pleiades. Beautiful indeed!

Cool about Mercury, fantasia. I caught a glimpse of it low in the west earlier in March. I had forgotten how ruddy it was. This planet is not able to be seen from our home, as too many trees are in the way, but I made my way over to one of the local schoolyards just after sunset, and enjoyed the view there. Venus and Jupiter were high above it, so it was quite the sight! Thanks for the link, fk.

Good luck spotting Mercury, fantasia_kitty! In this upcoming apparition it'll rise during twilight but if you have a good horizon to the east/northeast you should have a good shot at it.

I've been fortunate to have several very good ISS and Iridium viewing opportunities in the past week, but my area's entering another dry spell for them.

It was 100 years ago this evening that the Titanic's fateful voyage ended, and it continues to capture the imagination of many. Sky and Telescope magazine has over the years published a number of articles on the astronomical aspects of the event, including survivor accounts of how spectacular the sky was:

As passenger Lawrence Beesley would later recount in Loss of the SS Titanic, "The night was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen: the sky without a single cloud to mar the perfect brilliance of the stars..."

Surviving crew also later pointed out the absence of the Moon, noting that its light might have helped them see the iceberg before it was hit.

Check out the latest article online: Titanic's Celestial Connections

Anybody seen this?

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... 54005.html

http://media.skyandtelescope.com/images ... _chart.jpg

I tried to get a look at it last night, but got up too early, then went back to bed to wait until the seeing was better--and failed to get up again.

mm

Thanks for mentioning this, M-M. I'd noticed it just the other evening but have had too many clouds around for a viewing.

(Your comment that you'd gone back to bed and not gotten up again to see it reminded me of Leslie Peltier's similar experience with the variable star T Coronae Borealis (Chapter 23 in Starlight Nights - he watched over it thousands of nights, but the one night he 'nodded at his post' was the night it stirred to life.)

I may try to get up one of these mornings - if these persistent night clouds ever go away - to look for it.

Yesterday was a spectacular day weather-wise; I visited a nearby state park for a campfire and stargazing session (the night was partly cloudy). In addition to a -8 Iridium flare and a respectable ISS pass (compromised by clouds), I spotted a greenish glow low in the north, even through the Twin Cities' light glare. News reports helped me confirm that this was indeed a display of Northern Lights - modest, to be sure, but still nice to see.

Venus is as high and bright in the evening sky as it ever gets for Northern Hemisphere viewers - but in little more than a month it will have plunged out of the sky to cross the sun for the last time until 2117. Local observatories and astronomy clubs will likely plan public viewing options.

Had a fair view of Venus last night, with the crescent, (did I spell that right?) moon. Sure, and it would be a work day in the moring. Otherwise I would have sat out and probably caught some of the northern lights.
I hope to get the telescope out before the moon fills up too much. Then there is Saturn to look at as well.