Were you able to get the scope out for any viewing, Puddleglum?

Speaking of the moon, did anyone catch this past weekend's "Supermoon"? No? That's okay, I didn't see it either.

But this article at skyandtelescope.com points out it was mostly media hype after all. The moon was only 8% bigger and 0.16 magnitude brighter than usual - a far cry from articles talking about the 'huge' moon. (Those variations would only be noticeable to careful moonwatchers or those using measuring tools).

To my surprise, even the Weather Channel showed stock photos of a huge moon and said it would be 30% brighter - far more than the actual change.

Other highlights for May:

Venus is still high and bright at dusk right now but is sinking down toward the sun each day. Only 3 weeks from today, it'll set less than an hour after the sun. Enjoy it while you can!

Central North America has something of a 'dry spell' for ISS viewing in May - it just doesn't come over at the right time for nighttime viewing. But June will bring lots and lots of opportunities.

Speaking of the moon, did anyone catch this past weekend's "Supermoon"? No? That's okay, I didn't see it either.

Sort of. It was very yellow but not ridiculously huge. Sadly we have trees to the east of our house so I can't see it right on the horizon.

I did see the Supermoon when it was fairly early in the sky! I was surprised I saw it, because I was not aware of its presence. I often mistake the Burger King sign for the moon when riding in the car and thought I might be seeing some sign in the back, but no, to my surprise. It was very red/orange and huge. I wish I could've gotten a picture, but I suppose I'll have to hope that it'll stay in my mind's eye forever.

I wish I could've gotten a picture, but I suppose I'll have to hope that it'll stay in my mind's eye forever.

Or just wait till next year.

I saw the supermoon last night, but it didn't look all that super from where I was. It looked normal size, but let off more light than usual. It was very white.

~Riella

...I often mistake the Burger King sign for the moon when riding in the car ...

You're not alone in doing that! More than once, especially when driving at night in unfamiliar places or when I know the moon is about to rise, I've mistaken a lit Burger King sign for my true quarry.

The next few days are supposed to be clear here, so I'm going to try my hand once again at spotting Venus in broad daylight. The moon isn't nearby (when it is, it makes a convenient guidepost), but with Venus rapidly sinking out of the evening sky there's only a couple weeks left to try this.

The upcoming transit of Venus is a rare enough event that I'm going to bump this up. Less than three weeks from today, its little black dot will cross the sun for the last time until December 2117.

But don't look directly at the sun! Depending on where you live, local observatories or astronomy clubs may be sponsoring public viewing opportunities or open houses. You'll be able to see it safely and enjoy the experience with other observers.

Sky and Telescope's latest info on the event can be found here:

Transit of Venus

That's not all: this upcoming Sunday features an 'annular' solar eclipse (the moon doesn't quite cover the sun, leaving a ring of sun visible). China, the Pacific, and the western US are favored for the annular view, but much more of the world will have a partial solar eclipse (More details).

Alas, rain is in the forecast here.

According to a local photography business, Houston is actually in the narrow belt that will get to see the full eclipse.

Texas is luckily in a narrow belt that will be able to view the full eclipse! Right at sunset too...

The upcoming transit of Venus is a rare enough event that I'm going to bump this up. Less than three weeks from today, its little black dot will cross the sun for the last time until December 2117.

What is the exact date of this transit?

~Riella

The transit is on the afternoon or evening of Tuesday, June 5 (if you're in North America or east of the International Date Line), or early on June 6 for those in parts of Africa, Asia, and Australia/NZ. In North America, the farther west you live, the more of it you'll see before the sun sets.

Saturday evening's thunderstorms became a light steady rain yesterday morning. I got together with friends in the afternoon and was pleasantly surprised when we left the restaurant to find the sky had cleared. I drove over to Ryadian's house to view the eclipse with members of her family, choosing the parking lot of a nearby school for its superior western horizon (here, sunset was about 20 minutes after maximum eclipse). We had a pleasant spring evening and the opportunity to show the eclipse - along with a view of Venus in the daytime - with several passers-by. Great fun!

This picture is an excellent representation of what we saw around mid-eclipse.

Eclipses usually come in pairs 2 weeks apart, so the next one is a partial eclipse of the moon early in the morning of June 4 (the evening of June 4 in Australia and Eastern Asia) - by coincidence the day before the big transit.

This is pretty off-topic but I can't think of a better place to put it. I just wanted to say really fast that I'm excited about SpaceX's successful rocket launch last night. yay! A new era is USA space exploration has begun.

Re: The eclipse, didn't see it sadly. Maybe next time. There were some pretty amazing pictures from it though.

Happily, I was able to view the solar eclipse and even get a photo!

I had borrowed two welding glasses from my father for the occasion. Earlier in the afternoon I tested them to see how best to use them, and found that when the sun is high and bright I need to double them in order to view the sun safely. So we took both of them with us as the time for the eclipse approached.

As I've mentioned before, a 10-minute walk from our house is a lovely, obstruction-less viewing site, with a 360 field of view. So we walked there to get the best gander at the eclipse. On the way, we stopped a few times when the sun was clear of trees, and discovered that the eclipse had already started.

At first, we had to use both glasses to protect our eyes. But by the time we reached our spot, the light had moderated enough that we were forced to view through one thickness of welding glass in order to see the sun at all.

My daughter is a bit of a photography buff, so she was snapping pictures using the screen on her camera (and not the viewfinder!). She managed to snap the one above about 5 minutes before the sun dipped far enough below the horizon that we could no longer see the shadow of the moon.

Will the Venus transit be visible without a telescope? I could borrow the glasses again...

mm

Very nice picture, M-M! It looks very much like our early views of the eclipse.

Sorry you missed it, fantasia! The next solar eclipse in North America (if I read the chronicles aright ) comes in October 2014. But that's just a warm-up for the really big event, a total solar eclipse that cuts across the US from Oregon to South Carolina in August 2017; many cities will experience totality, and others, such as Kansas City and St. Louis, are on the edge of totality. Mark your calendars!

In addition to the pinhole-projector viewing method, we used a solar eclipse viewer made by a friend of mine: a #14 welder's glass (don't use anything less than this!) in a wooden frame about the size and shape of a ping-pong paddle, complete with handle. It's great for eclipse viewing.

M-M, the transit will be visible to the unaided eye if your vision is good. This test is recommended: make a dark pencil dot 2 mm in diameter on white paper, then step back 7 m (23 feet). If you can see the dot, you should be able to see Venus in your viewer.

Fantasia, SpaceX's Dragon is one of the orbiting satellites with customized viewing predictions available at www.heavens-above.com (along with the ISS, Tiangong 1, and Iridium flares). With luck, I hope to see it sometime soon!

How in the universe did I miss a thread like this?!? I am totally addited to all things space and Astronomy (Second best Merit Badge EVER)

I was unfrontunly unable to veiw the eclipse form where I live, but I was able to get live feed form two cameras, one in Californa, one in New Mexico, but it wasn't qutie the same thing.

I have been personally addicted to all thing space since about the age of 5 when I played the "Magic School bus: Lost in Space" computer game. I still have that somewhere.

I am also on a citzen science community site, on which which also you (among other things) to classify images of glaxies form the hubble space telscope.

Welcome, Boy Scout! Glad you found this thread.

Are you on one of the Zooniverse sites, like Galaxy Zoo? Sounds like fun! How do you like participating? Any fun stories to share with us?

What's involved in getting the Astronomy merit badge with the Scouts? Just curious.

Are you considering viewing the transit of Venus next week? We're so close now that extended weather forecasts now include Tuesday, and right now they indicate partly cloudy and warm temperatures for my area. Looks rather promising, though long-range forecasts are still less than perfect. I rather expect to be checking the weather Monday evening and Tuesday morning, ready to drive if I must (within reason!).

For the first time, a transit of Venus will be observed from space. Various sites will offer webcasts for unique vantage points like this, as well as for those who may face cloudy skies Tuesday.

Welcome, Boy Scout! Glad you found this thread.

Are you on one of the Zooniverse sites, like Galaxy Zoo? Sounds like fun! How do you like participating? Any fun stories to share with us?

What's involved in getting the Astronomy merit badge with the Scouts? Just curious.

Are you considering viewing the transit of Venus next week? We're so close now that extended weather forecasts now include Tuesday, and right now they indicate partly cloudy and warm temperatures for my area. Looks rather promising, though long-range forecasts are still less than perfect. I rather expect to be checking the weather Monday evening and Tuesday morning, ready to drive if I must (within reason!).

Haha, yes, I am on the Zooniverse sites. Galaxy Zoo is still my all time favorite. For everyone who doesn't know, Galaxy Zoo involves looking at pictures of other galaxies taken by the Hubble Space telescope and classifing them. I know that, at first, it doesn't sound like much fun, but the process is so simple and some of the sights are true amazing!

The requirments for Astronomy Merit Badge can be seen here. I completed this merit badge last summer along with Space Exploration- Which involves the use of model rockets!

Sadly, I will not be able to veiw the transit. I will be work on Staff for National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) And it is going to be rainy. Oh well...

Here is a picture form Galaxy Zoo.