a most beautiful sunset yesterday
Wednesday, August 7th, 2024 04:24 ameven including an arc of rainbow .
saturnine rhymes
Thursday, May 30th, 2024 05:05 amI watched a course on Generative AI Prompting today where one of the hands-on tasks was to get ChatGPT to generate rhyming questions and answers from a paragraph taken from Wikipedia.
I took this paragraph on Saturn:
I couldn't think of any rhymes from that myself, to provide as "few-shot" examples. So I simply asked ChatGPT to generate rhyming Q&As from the text.
It did pretty good; I liked these rhymes the best:
Q: Why does Saturn have a yellowish glow?
A: Ammonia crystals in clouds, you know,
Give it a pale hue, a soft show,
In the upper atmosphere, where they grow.
Q: What's the look of Saturn's outer layer?
A: Bland and lacking contrast there,
Yet long-lived features can appear,
In the atmosphere's drifting air.
I took this paragraph on Saturn:
Saturn's interior is thought to be composed of a rocky core, surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium, and finally, a gaseous outer layer. Saturn has a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. An electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's, but which has a magnetic moment 580 times that of Earth due to Saturn's larger size. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiter's. The outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 kilometres per hour (1,100 miles per hour).
I couldn't think of any rhymes from that myself, to provide as "few-shot" examples. So I simply asked ChatGPT to generate rhyming Q&As from the text.
It did pretty good; I liked these rhymes the best:
Q: Why does Saturn have a yellowish glow?
A: Ammonia crystals in clouds, you know,
Give it a pale hue, a soft show,
In the upper atmosphere, where they grow.
Q: What's the look of Saturn's outer layer?
A: Bland and lacking contrast there,
Yet long-lived features can appear,
In the atmosphere's drifting air.
CDs, AI-generated sites, auroras
Sunday, May 12th, 2024 05:27 amI browsed through a Goodwill store. The music CDs were the first thing to catch my eye; I looked through some of them. I don't really want CDs as that requires me ripping the music to MP3 files, and leaves me with a physical CD left over taking up space. But it reminds me of the old days, looking at CDs in stores and taking a chance on some, buying them, never knowing for sure how much I was going to like the music until I got home to listen to it.
One of the CDs that caught my eye was in a foreign language. It looked like Finnish to me, but I wasn't sure. The name on it was Yva plus a last name that I don't remember. It may have started with B. The back side had a picture of someone (presumably Yva the singer) in a blue and white outfit, similar to a traditional Bavarian style dirndl.
Another CD had music from RiverDance.
I didn't end up getting any CDs. I browsed the rest of the store, intending to possibly stop by the CD rack again afterward if I hadn't talked myself out of it by then. But then as I walked by the registers in the direction of both the entrance and the CDs (I'm not sure anymore which I was headed for), the lone cashier there said 'goodbye' or 'have a nice day' or something like that to me. Then when I thought of the CDs, it seemed awkward to stay and look at them again when {goodbyes had already been made}. I stopped in the sunshine of the open doorway and checked my phone messages, mentally debating it. Decided to leave.
At home I looked up this singer Yva. I only found an English singer and a Lithuanian group by that name.
Maybe it was this album by the Lithuanian group Yva, but I don't think so. I think the CD I looked at had only 1 person on it, not 3. And I remember there being a last name along with the Yva. It seemed like an older album. I don't remember what was on the front of the CD. Oh well. I probably wouldn't have liked the music anyway.
..
I came across this name website:
https://www.nameuc.com/talon-name-meaning-origin-popularity/
It has a different pretty image for each name. They are fairly obviously generated by an AI/LLM/whatever it is called for images. A while later I realized the text of the site must have also been generated by a LLM too. (It sounds quite similar to the answers I got when I asked an LLM questions about names.) That indicates to me that the data listed for the names on that site is not very trustworthy. If it hadn't been for the novel pretty name pictures, I might not have noticed/realized that. Many of the other name sites I've come across this last year or more have been similar, I suppose, just without the images. Sigh. How are we going to filter the junk data from the accurate data?
..
Apparently the aurora was visible even near here in South Carolina on Friday night. I didn't read/hear about it until this morning when the sun was already starting to rise. I never imagined an aurora could/would be visible this far south. I remember seeing the crescent moon in the sky earlier while I was out shopping. The sky was normal, not ablaze with colors.
One of the CDs that caught my eye was in a foreign language. It looked like Finnish to me, but I wasn't sure. The name on it was Yva plus a last name that I don't remember. It may have started with B. The back side had a picture of someone (presumably Yva the singer) in a blue and white outfit, similar to a traditional Bavarian style dirndl.
Another CD had music from RiverDance.
I didn't end up getting any CDs. I browsed the rest of the store, intending to possibly stop by the CD rack again afterward if I hadn't talked myself out of it by then. But then as I walked by the registers in the direction of both the entrance and the CDs (I'm not sure anymore which I was headed for), the lone cashier there said 'goodbye' or 'have a nice day' or something like that to me. Then when I thought of the CDs, it seemed awkward to stay and look at them again when {goodbyes had already been made}. I stopped in the sunshine of the open doorway and checked my phone messages, mentally debating it. Decided to leave.
At home I looked up this singer Yva. I only found an English singer and a Lithuanian group by that name.
Maybe it was this album by the Lithuanian group Yva, but I don't think so. I think the CD I looked at had only 1 person on it, not 3. And I remember there being a last name along with the Yva. It seemed like an older album. I don't remember what was on the front of the CD. Oh well. I probably wouldn't have liked the music anyway.
..
I came across this name website:
https://www.nameuc.com/talon-name-meaning-origin-popularity/
It has a different pretty image for each name. They are fairly obviously generated by an AI/LLM/whatever it is called for images. A while later I realized the text of the site must have also been generated by a LLM too. (It sounds quite similar to the answers I got when I asked an LLM questions about names.) That indicates to me that the data listed for the names on that site is not very trustworthy. If it hadn't been for the novel pretty name pictures, I might not have noticed/realized that. Many of the other name sites I've come across this last year or more have been similar, I suppose, just without the images. Sigh. How are we going to filter the junk data from the accurate data?
..
Apparently the aurora was visible even near here in South Carolina on Friday night. I didn't read/hear about it until this morning when the sun was already starting to rise. I never imagined an aurora could/would be visible this far south. I remember seeing the crescent moon in the sky earlier while I was out shopping. The sky was normal, not ablaze with colors.
there was a Solar Eclipse
Tuesday, April 9th, 2024 03:45 amand it was good.
There was clear sky.
The sun became a crescent.
The sunlight dimmed in a peculiar way.
The air got cooler.
I found a way to take photos of it with my phone.
I watched and waited as the shadow moved.
The sun brightened; the air got warmer again.
Last night, I finished reading the book So You Want to Be a Wizard, in which coincidentally a sun was blackened and restored.
There was clear sky.
The sun became a crescent.
The sunlight dimmed in a peculiar way.
The air got cooler.
I found a way to take photos of it with my phone.
I watched and waited as the shadow moved.
The sun brightened; the air got warmer again.
Last night, I finished reading the book So You Want to Be a Wizard, in which coincidentally a sun was blackened and restored.
Skylink, solar eclipse
Saturday, April 6th, 2024 02:24 amOn my flight back from California, I had a layover in the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) airport. As my connecting flight departed from another terminal, I rode in the Skylink trains which run on elevated rails between the terminals.
Escalators go up from the terminal areas to the train station halls. The halls have large banks of windows, giving a great view of the airport.
DFW is in the path of totality of the upcoming eclipse. If I had timed my trip differently, I could have possibly watched the eclipse during my layover. However, I don't think you can get to the open air without leaving the terminals and then having to go through Security to get back in. (The terminal's "Pet relief area" turned out to only be a stinky room with a green outdoor rug and a water hose to rinse it off). Even from the panoramic Skylink halls, you probably wouldn't be able to see the sun directly overhead.
As South Carolina isn't near the path of totality, I've felt blasé about the eclipse. I've been too busy to give it much thought other than that partial solar eclipses are hardly noticeable. But when my mom mentioned it today, I checked the local details, and we'll get a 76% eclipse. That's a crescent sun. That's worth looking at through some eclipse glasses. It's nearly as much as I got to experience for the 2017 eclipse. It's the last one near here (hear, hear!) for the next 21 years (years and years and years!). It's worth getting a little excited for.
I wonder what a solar eclipse would look like from in the air through an airplane window.
Escalators go up from the terminal areas to the train station halls. The halls have large banks of windows, giving a great view of the airport.
DFW is in the path of totality of the upcoming eclipse. If I had timed my trip differently, I could have possibly watched the eclipse during my layover. However, I don't think you can get to the open air without leaving the terminals and then having to go through Security to get back in. (The terminal's "Pet relief area" turned out to only be a stinky room with a green outdoor rug and a water hose to rinse it off). Even from the panoramic Skylink halls, you probably wouldn't be able to see the sun directly overhead.
As South Carolina isn't near the path of totality, I've felt blasé about the eclipse. I've been too busy to give it much thought other than that partial solar eclipses are hardly noticeable. But when my mom mentioned it today, I checked the local details, and we'll get a 76% eclipse. That's a crescent sun. That's worth looking at through some eclipse glasses. It's nearly as much as I got to experience for the 2017 eclipse. It's the last one near here (hear, hear!) for the next 21 years (years and years and years!). It's worth getting a little excited for.
I wonder what a solar eclipse would look like from in the air through an airplane window.
more than half
Wednesday, December 6th, 2023 11:48 amThis is interesting:
See a Half Moon on Dec 5 ... Find out why this ‘Half Moon’ is more than 50% illuminated.
That was the night before last.
Last night, the moon that was rising at 1:35am was most definitely a crescent, although not a narrow one. It looked striking to me as it rose over the treetops across the lake bed, with the crescent tips pointed upwards.
I took a photo of it from inside. The photo includes the moon's reflection off the double-paned window glass. In the reflection it has even more of a crescent shape than the direct (somewhat over-exposed) image does.
This page has a nice animation of the moon's current phases which lets you scroll through them day by day (unfortunately, only by dragging the slider with a mouse. It skips some days when you click the arrows). The moon really does have quite a noticeable difference in shape & size from one day to the next:
What Are the Moon’s Phases?
See a Half Moon on Dec 5 ... Find out why this ‘Half Moon’ is more than 50% illuminated.
That was the night before last.
Last night, the moon that was rising at 1:35am was most definitely a crescent, although not a narrow one. It looked striking to me as it rose over the treetops across the lake bed, with the crescent tips pointed upwards.
I took a photo of it from inside. The photo includes the moon's reflection off the double-paned window glass. In the reflection it has even more of a crescent shape than the direct (somewhat over-exposed) image does.
This page has a nice animation of the moon's current phases which lets you scroll through them day by day (unfortunately, only by dragging the slider with a mouse. It skips some days when you click the arrows). The moon really does have quite a noticeable difference in shape & size from one day to the next:
What Are the Moon’s Phases?
Antares by the Half Moon
Thursday, August 24th, 2023 09:05 pmLooking at the sky tonight, I see a faint star to the left of the half moon (first quarter moon).
Based on sky charts, I believe it is Antares in the Scorpius constellation... which is actually a bright star. But around here, with all the street lights, as well as the moon lightening the sky, it is fairly faint tonight.
Based on sky charts, I believe it is Antares in the Scorpius constellation... which is actually a bright star. But around here, with all the street lights, as well as the moon lightening the sky, it is fairly faint tonight.
Half Moon with Jupiter
Tuesday, August 8th, 2023 04:16 amJupiter is in the sky near the half-moon tonight. A pleasing configuration, looking very nice.
I tried to take a photo earlier but kept getting a blob for the moon, as typical.
I tried to take a photo earlier but kept getting a blob for the moon, as typical.
Crescent Moon, Venus, y'all!
Saturday, April 22nd, 2023 08:48 pmIf clear skies, look up after sunset, awesome.
Venus is so bright right now
Wednesday, March 29th, 2023 09:13 pmLike, wow!
Per this page: https://theskylive.com/
it is at -4.01 magnitude.
This is interesting:
https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/measuring-planet-magnitudes/
Per this page: https://theskylive.com/
it is at -4.01 magnitude.
This is interesting:
https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/measuring-planet-magnitudes/
Most bodies, such as the Moon and Mercury, become fainter when their crescent becomes thinner. Venus does likewise but only up to a certain point — then it becomes brighter!
We turned to SOHO again to determine Venus’s phase function when it was very near the Sun. Analysis of these observations revealed that the thin crescent’s excess brightness comes about when droplets of sulfuric acid suspended high in the Venusian atmosphere scatter sunlight forward, toward Earth. This phenomenon is similar to a “glory” in Earth’s atmosphere where water droplets scatter sunlight. From the SOHO data, we found that Venus approaches magnitude –5 at its greatest brilliancy, when it’s about 22% illuminated.
the brightest planets
Wednesday, March 8th, 2023 07:16 pmVenus and Jupiter continue to make an impressive sight after sunset each evening, one vertically above the other over the western horizon. They are getting further apart.
On the day of the conjunction on March 2, as well as the following day, it was cloudy here. But I also forgot to check the sky on those days. So had the skies been clear, I would have missed the spectacle anyway and would have been annoyed with myself.
On the day of the conjunction on March 2, as well as the following day, it was cloudy here. But I also forgot to check the sky on those days. So had the skies been clear, I would have missed the spectacle anyway and would have been annoyed with myself.
evolution, planet
Tuesday, January 11th, 2022 05:12 pmRandom thought:
It could be argued that humans aren't the pinnacle of evolution on earth, but rather the one branch of evolution here which so far has turned out very very badly.
(in terms of damaging the planet and wiping out other species, causing destruction, pain, and death, etc.)
Context of thought:
Bright yellow sun setting towards the far end of the street as I walk back from the mailbox,
a small airplane flying from that direction, catching my eye so that I follow it as it slowly curves towards the north,
a small flock of birds also flying by overheard, chirping, towards the north,
(me thinking of how carefree the birds seem).
Why the birds flew north, I don't know. Probably not going far in that direction.
It could be argued that humans aren't the pinnacle of evolution on earth, but rather the one branch of evolution here which so far has turned out very very badly.
(in terms of damaging the planet and wiping out other species, causing destruction, pain, and death, etc.)
Context of thought:
Bright yellow sun setting towards the far end of the street as I walk back from the mailbox,
a small airplane flying from that direction, catching my eye so that I follow it as it slowly curves towards the north,
a small flock of birds also flying by overheard, chirping, towards the north,
(me thinking of how carefree the birds seem).
Why the birds flew north, I don't know. Probably not going far in that direction.
bright moon, dark shadow (and cookies!)
Friday, November 19th, 2021 02:11 amAn almost-total Lunar Eclipse tonight!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80uMSAWogjo
The partial eclipse starts in a few minutes, and the maximum will be at 4:03am EST.
https://www.timeanddate.com/live/eclipse-lunar-2021-november-19
...today’s eclipse lasts 6 hours and 2 minutes. For a lunar eclipse that isn’t a total eclipse—in other words, it only has penumbral and partial phases—that’s very long. In fact, this eclipse is the longest of the 841 partial lunar eclipses between the years 1600 and 2599.
Why is it so long? One reason is that today’s Full Moon is a Micromoon: the Moon is near apogee, its farthest point from Earth. When the Moon is farther away, it orbits more slowly and takes longer to move through Earth’s shadow.
Update, 2:22am:
Yes! I see the shadow!!! (I can tell this is going to be another late nighter for me, yet again. (But I'm on vacation, so it's not so bad!))
Update, 2:29am:
I know! I'll bake these chocolate chip cookies while I'm waiting for the moon to almost-fully eclipse!
... Oh good grief. "Place pucks on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper." As if everyone has parchment paper. Are they implying I should grease the pan? Or is the parchment paper just to keep the pan from getting dirty? Grease it is I guess.
... Dang, I bet the pan I used is too small. Those cookie pucks are larger than I expected. I'm going to dork up the easy-peasy ready-to-bake cookies, aren't I?
Update, 2:47am:
The moon's already half-eaten up by the shadow!
I'll never understand how my camera manages to turn even a half-eaten-up moon into a completely round whitish blob, even with it set to the shortest exposure time. Let's see, maybe if I hold some sunglasses in front of the lens to reduce the brightness...
Update, 2:58am:
The sunglasses work; the photos show the right shape of the moon now. But there's still not much detail.
And yep, the cookies are running into each other. Oh well. Hopefully I won't over-bake them.
3:18am:
The cookies are almost certainly over-baked for my preferences. But they'll be fully-eaten, I'm sure.
4:20am:
:)))))))))))))
Good night, moon!
..
It sure is nice having that website with eclipse-related tweets and posts from around the world, and that YouTube livestream video with chat comments turned on, to feel part of something exciting that bunches of other people are excited about too, rather than just being excited about it alone like it would otherwise feel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80uMSAWogjo
The partial eclipse starts in a few minutes, and the maximum will be at 4:03am EST.
https://www.timeanddate.com/live/eclipse-lunar-2021-november-19
...today’s eclipse lasts 6 hours and 2 minutes. For a lunar eclipse that isn’t a total eclipse—in other words, it only has penumbral and partial phases—that’s very long. In fact, this eclipse is the longest of the 841 partial lunar eclipses between the years 1600 and 2599.
Why is it so long? One reason is that today’s Full Moon is a Micromoon: the Moon is near apogee, its farthest point from Earth. When the Moon is farther away, it orbits more slowly and takes longer to move through Earth’s shadow.
Update, 2:22am:
Yes! I see the shadow!!! (I can tell this is going to be another late nighter for me, yet again. (But I'm on vacation, so it's not so bad!))
Update, 2:29am:
I know! I'll bake these chocolate chip cookies while I'm waiting for the moon to almost-fully eclipse!
... Oh good grief. "Place pucks on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper." As if everyone has parchment paper. Are they implying I should grease the pan? Or is the parchment paper just to keep the pan from getting dirty? Grease it is I guess.
... Dang, I bet the pan I used is too small. Those cookie pucks are larger than I expected. I'm going to dork up the easy-peasy ready-to-bake cookies, aren't I?
Update, 2:47am:
The moon's already half-eaten up by the shadow!
I'll never understand how my camera manages to turn even a half-eaten-up moon into a completely round whitish blob, even with it set to the shortest exposure time. Let's see, maybe if I hold some sunglasses in front of the lens to reduce the brightness...
Update, 2:58am:
The sunglasses work; the photos show the right shape of the moon now. But there's still not much detail.
And yep, the cookies are running into each other. Oh well. Hopefully I won't over-bake them.
3:18am:
The cookies are almost certainly over-baked for my preferences. But they'll be fully-eaten, I'm sure.
4:20am:
:)))))))))))))
Good night, moon!
..
It sure is nice having that website with eclipse-related tweets and posts from around the world, and that YouTube livestream video with chat comments turned on, to feel part of something exciting that bunches of other people are excited about too, rather than just being excited about it alone like it would otherwise feel.
bright Venus
Friday, September 17th, 2021 08:14 pmVenus has been brightly visible in the western sky after sunset for the last week or so, and still is.
Jupiter is bright too, towards the south and higher up.
And the moon, of course.
.
Video title: Boney M - Nightflight To Venus + Rasputin
Posted by: А Пычков
Date posted: Mar 13, 2014
Jupiter is bright too, towards the south and higher up.
And the moon, of course.
.
Video title: Boney M - Nightflight To Venus + Rasputin
Posted by: А Пычков
Date posted: Mar 13, 2014
rover, rover, go on over
Thursday, February 18th, 2021 03:58 pmI turned on NASA TV an hour ago, but it was too early yet.
Now I turned it on again just in time to hear clapping and the news that Perseverance landed ok.
Yay!
To think, of that bright reddish dot in the night sky, that we launched a vessel from our planet out on the long journey to it, and that it made it there ok. And that this isn't the first time either.
Now I turned it on again just in time to hear clapping and the news that Perseverance landed ok.
Yay!
To think, of that bright reddish dot in the night sky, that we launched a vessel from our planet out on the long journey to it, and that it made it there ok. And that this isn't the first time either.
dazzled by the sky
Tuesday, December 15th, 2020 01:40 amThis evening has been like, am I having a spectacularly good dream?
Saturn & Jupiter. Yep, slightly less than a pinky apart tonight. I must admit, that distance would make for a larger than usual moon. But I still think that half a pinky would make for a TOO SMALL moon. So maybe the 1 degree pinkies which that handy guide goes by are bigger pinkies than mine.
Today I found that my camera can take acceptably good photos of stars in the sky, when using these settings: Exposure to the max (2+); ISO ~800; focus to infinity; using tripod; using self-timer to prevent camera shake right after pressing the button; position the camera so that it is in the shade from the street light.
The above exposure setting gave me a shutter speed of 1 second.
3 of the photos I took with the above settings show something moving through the constellation of Cassiopeia. 1 of those also shows a second object moving in the edge of the photo.
I wondered if those moving objects were high-up airplanes, or if they might be satellites.
Starlink - dynamic 3D orbit display. I had no idea there were THAT many satellites moving all over the sky (not geo-stationary). That display ONLY shows the Starlink ones. Per Wikipedia, there are currently about 900 Starlink satellites in orbit, and they have plans for launching more than 40 thousand! OMG, it will be a maze of moving objects.
This page: in-the-sky.org : Satellite Observing Opportunities let me check which satellites were crossing through and near Cassiopeia at the time I took those 3 photos.
This one, SL-3 R/B is the closest match to my photos, though not an exact match. Mine's path went thru the 2 left stars, not thru the middle ones. But it was going in the right direction, and at about that time. So I'm not sure if the website's chart is off, or if my object was something else*.
There were also several other satellites passing by that general area within a few minutes of it; one of these might be the other moving object:
SL-14 R/B
OKEAN-O
PSLV R/B
SL-8 R/B
*The offset was due to me not having entered my exact latitude and longitude on that page. Once I entered more exact values, it shows SL-3 R/B's path as having gone through the same 2 left stars which I saw. So most likely my photos *do* show that satellite !
Later this evening I discovered my camera can even take up to 15-second long exposures! (I'd been thinking of maybe upgrading my camera, not even realizing it could do that!) So after finishing up my work for the day, I took many more photos.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I even got a good photo of the Pleiades.
Jupiter, Saturn, and my pinky (couldn't get them all in focus at the same time)
Orion behind branches:
Pleiades in upper left:
Saturn & Jupiter. Yep, slightly less than a pinky apart tonight. I must admit, that distance would make for a larger than usual moon. But I still think that half a pinky would make for a TOO SMALL moon. So maybe the 1 degree pinkies which that handy guide goes by are bigger pinkies than mine.
Today I found that my camera can take acceptably good photos of stars in the sky, when using these settings: Exposure to the max (2+); ISO ~800; focus to infinity; using tripod; using self-timer to prevent camera shake right after pressing the button; position the camera so that it is in the shade from the street light.
The above exposure setting gave me a shutter speed of 1 second.
3 of the photos I took with the above settings show something moving through the constellation of Cassiopeia. 1 of those also shows a second object moving in the edge of the photo.
I wondered if those moving objects were high-up airplanes, or if they might be satellites.
Starlink - dynamic 3D orbit display. I had no idea there were THAT many satellites moving all over the sky (not geo-stationary). That display ONLY shows the Starlink ones. Per Wikipedia, there are currently about 900 Starlink satellites in orbit, and they have plans for launching more than 40 thousand! OMG, it will be a maze of moving objects.
This page: in-the-sky.org : Satellite Observing Opportunities let me check which satellites were crossing through and near Cassiopeia at the time I took those 3 photos.
This one, SL-3 R/B is the closest match to my photos, though not an exact match. Mine's path went thru the 2 left stars, not thru the middle ones. But it was going in the right direction, and at about that time. So I'm not sure if the website's chart is off, or if my object was something else*.
There were also several other satellites passing by that general area within a few minutes of it; one of these might be the other moving object:
SL-14 R/B
OKEAN-O
PSLV R/B
SL-8 R/B
*The offset was due to me not having entered my exact latitude and longitude on that page. Once I entered more exact values, it shows SL-3 R/B's path as having gone through the same 2 left stars which I saw. So most likely my photos *do* show that satellite !
Later this evening I discovered my camera can even take up to 15-second long exposures! (I'd been thinking of maybe upgrading my camera, not even realizing it could do that!) So after finishing up my work for the day, I took many more photos.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I even got a good photo of the Pleiades.
Jupiter, Saturn, and my pinky (couldn't get them all in focus at the same time)
Orion behind branches:
Pleiades in upper left:
measuring the sky
Monday, December 14th, 2020 01:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frith cued me in to the Geminid meteor showers which are peaking tonight. Here, clouds rolled in and we're getting light rain showers instead. But if any of you have clear skies, you might still be able to see them.I found this very handy page that shows how you can estimate angular distances in the sky using your hands:
A Handy Guide to Measuring the Sky
Making a fist and twisting it left and right to count how many times it takes to span half the room around me, the guide does seem to estimate it pretty well. (half way around the room = 180 degrees = about 18 fist widths).
HOWEVER. The guide also says that the full moon is 30' wide, which if I'm reading it right means that the moon would be only half a pinky finger's width wide, when holding your hand out at arm's length. NO WAY. I know the full moon changes size as it moves through the sky, even though it doesn't. But still, only half a pinky's width?? Even at its smallest, I'd never think it was that small... Now I have to wait til the next full moon to see if that can possibly really be true.
astronomers measure the distance between celestial objects based on the angle they make with an observational point on Earth. Known as angular distances or angular separation, distances are expressed in terms of degrees (°), arc minutes ('), and arc seconds (").
...
There are 360° in a circle or sphere, each degree is divided into 60' and each arc minute is further divided into 60".
...
Your little finger at an arms length is about 1° wide.
...
The angular diameter of a full Moon is about 30'...
..
Hey, but, however:
The main reason I was reading about that was to see if my estimate of how far apart Jupiter and Saturn were tonight was correct.
According to theskylive.com's quick hilights for today: Jupiter and Saturn are in conjunction with an apparent angular separation of 0° 50’ 21”, currently decreasing.
So if the moon is 30', then Jupiter and Saturn *are* between one and two full moon widths apart, and my estimate WAS spot on. Yay me.
saturn jupiter approach
Sunday, December 13th, 2020 06:52 pmI missed the Venus Crescent Moon proximity event on Saturday as I'm not an early riser.
But this evening (yay!) I got to see Saturn and Jupiter pretty close together, and even got some non-wiggly photos of them. As of tonight they are still one or two moon's widths apart, I would estimate.
But this evening (yay!) I got to see Saturn and Jupiter pretty close together, and even got some non-wiggly photos of them. As of tonight they are still one or two moon's widths apart, I would estimate.
Saturn and Jupiter (and moon)
Friday, December 11th, 2020 04:25 amThe December 2020 Great Conjunction
So, reminder to self:
Next Wednesday the 16th after sunset! Moon, planets!
And then the Monday, planets!
(oh dear, weather forecast not looking good for Wednesday. I'd best look outside every night.)
The year 2020 will end with a special astronomical event: the closest great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 397 years. On December 21, the two planets will almost touch in the sky.
...
A few days before December 21, a thin Crescent Moon will pass close to Jupiter and Saturn in the sky. In the Western Hemisphere, the Moon will be closest to the two planets on December 16. In the Eastern Hemisphere, it will be closest on December 17.
On December 21, the day of the conjunction, Jupiter and Saturn will be separated by a mere 0.1 degrees, and may appear as a single bright “star.” The two planets are completely merged together on our Night Sky Map for this date, although a careful observer should be able to separate them in the sky with the naked eye. It will be the closest great conjunction since July 16, 1623.
The pair of planets will become visible at twilight, close to the southwestern horizon in the Northern Hemisphere, or the western horizon in the Southern Hemisphere. They will set within a couple of hours or so, so it is important to have a clear view toward the horizon.
So, reminder to self:
Next Wednesday the 16th after sunset! Moon, planets!
And then the Monday, planets!
(oh dear, weather forecast not looking good for Wednesday. I'd best look outside every night.)
