Eclipses, Conjunctions, Alignments and Celestial Phenomena

[Puma]

When to see Venus disappear behind the moon this Thursday​

Venus will vanish behind the moon for about an hour in the morning of 9 November in Europe, western Russia and some of northern Africa – here’s how to watch it happen

What is the lunar occultation of Venus?

On 9 November, the moon will pass between Earth and Venus, making the latter disappear behind the moon for about an hour, before it reappears on the other side. This phenomenon, known as a lunar occultation of Venus, will be visible from most of Europe, the western part of Russia, as well as Greenland and some of northern Africa and western Asia. For everyone else, the two bodies will just pass close by each other.

In areas where you can see the occultation, it will happen during the daytime, but exactly when will vary depending on where you are. In London, it is due to begin around 9.45 am, around 10.50 am local time in Paris and around 10.26 am in Tromsø in Norway, for example.

When will the next lunar occultation of Venus happen?

They are rare, and each one is only visible from certain parts of the world. This is because the moon appears in a slightly different part of the sky depending on where you are on Earth, because of a phenomenon called parallax.

When to see Venus disappear behind the moon this Thursday

Venus will vanish behind the moon for about an hour in the morning of 9 November in Europe, western Russia and some of northern Africa – here’s how to watch it happen

www.newscientist.com

Enjoy the precious cosmic spectacle - lunar occultation of Venus

 

[Ursus Minor]

This morning, November 9, locals and travellers looking up from Iceland saw an unusually beautiful sight: Venus and the Moon, the two brightest objects in the night sky, side by side. The phenomenon was visible to the naked eye while the sun was rising between 9:00 and 10:00 AM this morning. The Moon then passed “in front” of Venus, which appeared once more from behind it just before 10:00 AM.

Iceland Review

 

[Olivierlejardinier]

More pictures of this lunar occultation of Venus (here):



Perfect conditions here in NE Scotland for viewing the occultation of Venus. Both crescent Moon and Venus were easily visible to the unaided eye.

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LUNAR OCCULTATION OF VENUS: Venus and the Moon just had a beautiful close encounter. This morning in Europe, sky watchers witnessed a lunar occultation of the second planet. Marko Posavec sends this picture from Koprivnica, Croatia:

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"Two minutes after I took this picture Venus slipped behind the Moon's limb," says Posavec. "You can see Venus's quarter phase in the inset."

 

[Puma]

Uranus at opposition on November 13, 2023​

Uranus at opposition on November 13, 2023, at 17 UTC (11 a.m. CDT). At that time, it lies opposite the sun in the sky. Uranus is 2.6 light-hours distant (18.6 AU) from Earth. Bright Jupiter – which reached opposition on November 2-3, 2023 – can help you locate dim Uranus. In addition, the Pleiades star cluster glimmers nearby. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.​

Our planet Earth will swing between the sun and the 7th planet – Uranus – on November 13, 2023. That means we’re now smack in the middle of the best time of year to see this outer planet. Have you ever spotted Uranus? It’s theoretically possible to see with the eye alone. But, in practice, Uranus is tough to locate without optical aid. Still, it’s easier with Uranus opposite the sun. It’s rising in the east as the sun sets in the west, highest in the sky at midnight.

Uranus reaches a yearly maximum in brightness at or near opposition. From mid-October to mid-December, Uranus will be at its brightest, shining at +5.6 magnitude. So it should be possible to glimpse with the unaided eye, if conditions are optimum.

| EarthSky

earthsky.org

​

SOLAR CONJUNCTION OF MARS: Mars is about to pass directly behind the sun (Nov. 17th). That's a problem for NASA, because radio transmissions passing through the sun's atmosphere can become garbled, commanding Mars rovers and orbiters to do nonsensical things. To prevent confusion, NASA will hold off commanding its Mars fleet for two weeks, from Nov. 11th to 25th.

During this time, rovers Perseverance and Curiosity will remain parked as they monitor changes on local weather and radiation. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter will be grounded. It'll stay busy using its color camera to study the movement of sand--really! Mars orbiters will gather data as usual. All these missions will relay their stored data to NASA after the conjunction is over.

Lately, we have been using images from Perseverance to detect large sunspots on the farside ofthe sun. Those reports will resume after Thanksgiving.

Spaceweather.com Time Machine

 

[Olivierlejardinier]

Star occultation in Orion...

Excerpt from here:

"
Astronomers are gearing up for an unusual celestial event: an asteroid’s occultation, or total covering, of an iconic star.

Betelgeuse shines yellow-red in the constellation Orion.

Imagine your favorite constellation without one of its brightest stars. For a brief moment on December 12th, this may happen to Orion, at least for viewers in a narrow stretch from central Asia and southern Europe to Florida and Mexico. Around 1:17 UTC (8:17 p.m. EST December 11th), the main-belt asteroid 319 Leona will pass in front of Betelgeuse, the red star at Orion’s shoulder, and block its light for a few seconds.
An occultation of a 1st-magnitude star is rare — such an event is visible from Earth only every few decades — but watching one can give astronomers valuable scientific information. By precisely timing the duration of the occultation from many sites simultaneously, they can refine their knowledge of the size and shape of the asteroid. They may even be able to map Betelgeuse’s strangely large convective cells, by which the star brightens and darkens for months at a time. Betelgeuse is the 10th brightest star in our skies (+0.5 magnitude), so observers need only modest equipment to participate.

How to Observe the Occultation​

 

[Liliea]

The fiery Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend.​

The Leonid meteor shower will peak this weekend, bringing about 15 "shooting stars" per hour to the night sky on Friday night and early Saturday (Nov. 17-18). However, this annual meteor shower — named after the constellation Leo, the lion — may offer a bonus show this year, with some experts suggesting a second peak on Sunday (Nov. 19),
During the peak of the Leonids, which are known for outbursts of meteor activity, there will be a 23% illuminated waxing crescent moon, which will set soon after sunset on Friday, according to the American Meteor Society. That will leave skies dark, though a clear sky is required to see meteors. It also helps to observe from a location with as little light pollution as possible.

Although this weekend's peak offers the highest frequency of meteors, the Leonids are active from Nov. 3 to Dec. 2.

Meteor showers from space

Watch as Earth flies through clouds of meteors.

www.meteorshowers.org

 

[Olivierlejardinier]

100 light-years away from us, but who knows how these "things" works ?
From here:

"

Unique star system with six planets in geometric formation | Digital Trends​

By Georgina Torbet December 2, 2023 5:58PM

Astronomers spot rare star system with six planets in geometric formation​

Astronomers have discovered a rare star system in which six planets orbit around one star in an elaborate geometrical pattern due to a phenomenon called orbital resonance. Using both NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS), the researchers have built up a picture of the beautiful, but complex HD110067 system, located 100 light-years away.

The six planets of the system orbit in a pattern whereby one planet completes three orbits while another does two, and one completes six orbits while another does one, and another does four orbits while another does three, and so one. The six planets form what is called a “resonant chain” where each is in resonance with the planets next to it.

A rare family of six exoplanets has been unlocked with the help of the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS mission. ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
It is this chain of resonances that makes the system so unusual. “Amongst the over 5,000 exoplanets discovered orbiting other stars than our sun, resonances are not rare, nor are systems with several planets. What is extremely rare though, is to find systems where the resonances span such a long chain of six planets,” explained one of the researchers, Hugh Osborn of the University of Bern, in a statement.

The planets in this system are all of a type called sub-Neptunes, which are planets smaller than Neptune that are unlike any of the planets in our solar system, but are thought to be some of the most common exoplanets. Planets are thought to often form in resonance, due to the gravitational forces involved, however, this delicate balance is easily thrown out by perturbations such as a passing star or an impact from a large asteroid or comet.

Tracing a link between two neighbor planets at regular time intervals along their orbits, creates a pattern unique to each couple. The six planets of the HD110067 system together create a mesmerizing geometric pattern due to their resonance-chain. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, Thibaut Roger/NCCR PlanetS
Researchers are keen to investigate systems like HD110067 because it can show what a system might look like if it does not experience any of these dramatic events.
“We think only about 1% of all systems stay in resonance,” said researcher Rafael Luque of the University of Chicago. “It shows us the pristine configuration of a planetary system that has survived untouched.”

The research is presented in the journal Nature."

 

[dennis]

One of the biggest and brightest stars in the night sky will momentarily vanish as an asteroid passes in front of it to produce a one-of-a-kind eclipse.

The rare and fleeting spectacle, late Monday into early Tuesday, should be visible to millions of people along a narrow path stretching from central Asia’s Tajikistan and Armenia, across Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain, to Miami and the Florida Keys and finally, to parts of Mexico.

The star is Betelgeuse, a red supergiant in the constellation Orion.

The asteroid is Leona, a slowly rotating, oblong space rock in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Asteroid will pass in front of bright star Betelgeuse to produce a rare eclipse visible to millions

Betelgeuse is thousands of times brighter than our sun and some 700 times bigger.

nypost.com

 

[Puma]

VEGA VS. AN EXPLODING COMET: This week, cryovolcanic comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is gliding by Vega in the constellation Lyra. Chris Schur photographed the conjunction from Payson, Arizona:

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"This was quite the event, and extremely challenging to image," says Schur. Indeed, Vega is 4000 times brighter than the comet. Schur captured both in the same exposure as the pair sank into the treetops overlooking his backyard observatory.

12P/Pons-Brooks is the most active and arguably the most interesting comet in the entire solar system. Ice volcanoes on the comet's surface have erupted at least 5 times on 2023, creating "horns," dark shadows, and multiple shells of expanding debris. All of these features are visible in Schur's photo.

Spaceweather.com Time Machine

EXTREMELY RARE OCCULTATION OF BETELGEUSE: For years, astronomers have worried that Betelgeuse might explode. Instead, it's about to disappear. On Dec. 11th (USA) and 12th (Europe), main belt asteroid Leona will pass directly in front of Betelgeuse, a first-magnitude star in the shoulder of Orion. Millions of people in a narrow path stretching from South Florida to Italy and Greece can look up and see the red giant dim or even vanish.

Google Earth: Click to view an interactive map of the occultation path​

"This represents an extraordinary and unique opportunity to analyze the diameter and brightness distribution of Betelgeuse with extreme angular resolution," says astronomer J. L. Ortiz of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, lead author of a newly-released preprint about the occultation.

Betelgeuse is not a typical star. Its diameter is 760 times the sun's, so it appears as a disk 40 milliarcseconds across the sky, much larger than most other stars. High resolution images of Betelgeuse seem to reveal a star in turmoil with giant convection cells bubbling up to the surface. The passage of the asteroid across Betelgeuse may allow astronomers to map these cells and evaluate their role in a possible future supernova explosion.

Images of Betelgeuse taken by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope​

Much is unknown about this occultation. The shape of the asteroid itself is an X-factor. In Sept. 2023, Ortiz and colleagues watched the asteroid occult another star from 17 different locations on Earth. They found that Leona has an oblong shape with dimensions 80 x 55 km, whereas most predictions of the occultation assume the asteroid to be spherical. Leona's odd shape, plus the fact that it is rotating, could produce some surprises. The occultation path may be wider than expected, and there could be interesting "partial eclipse" effects visible even near the center of the path.

There are huge population centers in the occultation path, especially in south Florida where Leona's shadow crosses Miami and Fort Lauderdale. For observers there, Betelgeuse will wink out for about 10 seconds on the evening of Dec. 11th just before 8:25 pm Eastern Standard Time. In Europe, the occultation happens on Dec. 12th between 1:10 UT and 1:16 UT. To find out when to look from your location, we recommend downloading this excellent Google Earth file; when viewing the map, click on the little dots for occultation times.

Amateur astronomers who wish to collect research quality light curves are encouraged to read these observing tips from the International Occultation Timing Association. For casual naked-eye observers, here's a simple sky map

Spaceweather.com Time Machine

 

[Puma]

BIRTH OF A NEW METEOR SHOWER: Meteor forecaster Jeremie Vaubaillon and colleagues are urging sky watchers to be alert for a new meteor shower next week. "We predict the birth of a new shower on Dec. 12, 2023, between 8:00 and 12:30 UT," say the researchers in a preprint. "The shower (if it occurs) will be best visible from North and West Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Indonesia." The source of the display would be Comet 46P/Wirtanen, which made an extremely close approach to Earth just five years ago.

AN ICE VOLCANO JUST ERUPTED:
The British Astronomical Association is reporting a strong outburst on Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann. On Dec. 8th, the volcanic comet suddenly brightened 16-fold (3 magnitudes) when a sunlit vent opened, spewing 'cryomagma' into space. Eliot Herman photographed the first stages of the outburst using a remote-controlled telescope in Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile:​

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"According to Mission 29P, a significant coma (cloud of debris) will likely develop in the next days from the cryovolcano eruption," says Herman.

Comet 29P is one of the strangest objects in the solar system. In fact, it strains the definition of "comet." 29P is a ball of ice 60 km wide (much larger than a typical comet) trapped in a planet-like orbit between Jupiter and Saturn. It appears to be festooned with ice volcanoes which erupt ~20 times a year.

29P rotates once every 57.7 days. As sunlight sweeps across its frozen surface, cryovolcanoes erupt under the high sun. This weekend's eruption comes 2 x 57 days after a similar eruption in August 2023, suggesting that it is a repeat blast from a particularly active volcano.​

Spaceweather.com Time Machine

 

[Puma]

December 10 and 11 mornings: Moon near Venus and Zubenelgenubi​

The thin waning crescent moon will move away from dazzling Venus and will pass the moderately bright star Zubenelgenubi in Libra the Scales on the morning of December 10. An even thinner crescent moon will hang near the horizon shortly before sunrise on the morning of December 11. Can you see a delicate glow on the unlit portion of the crescent moon? That’s earthshine! It’s reflected light from the Earth.

| EarthSky

earthsky.org

The narrow moon and Venus were rendezvousing amicably this morning, as photographed (at 40x speed) from my home in Hiratsuka, Japan, just before 4:00 a.m. on December 10, 2023.The bright star in the upper left is Venus.The next chance will be on January 9 next year, when Antares and Mercury will also be nearby, making it very lively.

Translated with Deepl

https://twitter.com/x/status/1733663888657560044

 

[Olivierlejardinier]

December 10 and 11 mornings: Moon near Venus and Zubenelgenubi

Meanwhile, Venus transiting in virgo, Jupiter in aries :

"

2023, December 10: Venus-Jupiter Opposition - When the Curves Line Up​

Jeffrey L. Hunt

6–8 minutes

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December 10, 2023: Venus and Jupiter are in opposite directions (opposition) and signal the last time the two planets are in the sky together before sunrise during this Venusian apparition.

Chart Caption – 2023, December 10: Venus, Earth, and Jupiter are in an imaginary line, signaling the Venus-Jupiter opposition.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:07 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:20 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Today is the Venus-Jupiter opposition. The two planets are in opposite directions in the sky so that as Jupiter sets Venus rises in the east-southeast. After this morning the two planets are not visible again at the same time until November 2024, when the next Venus-Jupiter opposition occurs.

Venus steps eastward against the background stars quickly while Jupiter is slowly retrograding. The planets’ positions in the sky are a result of their revolution around the sun. Venus’ year is two hundred, twenty-five days long, while Jupiter revolves around the sun in nearly twelve years. Venus passes between Earth and the sun on an orbital path that is closer to the sun and speeds away while our planet does the same with Jupiter. This morning, the three planets are in an imaginary line with Earth placed between Venus and Jupiter, although Jupiter is four times farther away from Earth than Venus.

This morning Venus and Jupiter are visible for only three minutes beginning at three hours, thirty-two minutes before sunrise. Unlike most celestial bodies, Venus and Jupiter are bright enough to shine through the haze at the horizon that blurs and dims celestial objects. A clear view toward the respective horizons is required to observe the planets.

When a planet-to-planet opposition occurs with an outer planet in the morning sky, this event is the last time the two worlds are visible in the sky at the same time. Venus is in the eastern sky and the other planet is in the west. When these events occur in the evening sky, the event signals that the two planets begin to appear at the same time, Venus in the west and the second planet in the east."

The same day, there's also (detailed for each zodiac sign here):

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Horoscope For December 10 — Moon Opposite Uranus​

Uranus has a way of bringing sudden events that open our minds and challenge our hearts. Here's what to anticipate during the Moon Uranus transit on December 10, 2023."

 

[Puma]

Sun-diving comets lose their mass and energy depending on how close they get to the sun.

If the most massive comets smashed into the sun, they would produce dramatic explosions just above the photosphere according to John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland.​

COMET DIVING INTO THE SUN: On 2 December a small comet was seen diving into the solar atmosphere. It appears in the SOHO C3 (blue) coronagraph field at about 6 o'clock and disappears as it reached the C2 (red) field. Probably was evaporated into dust and plasma as it got closer.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1734222238717444406

ANOTHER BIGGER COMET HEADING FOR THE SUN: This is a large comet and so might stand a chance of surviving its close approach to the Sun (10%). This is on a different trajectory, and we may lose it behind the occulting disk support. Equally it should appear in the inner field (red)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1734224536227164259

 

[Puma]

HAPPY SOLSTICE! Today is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, and the longest day in the south--that is, it's the "December solstice." The exact moment of the solstice is Thursday, Dec. 21st, at 10:27 p.m. EST, when the sun stops moving south and starts moving north again. This event marks the beginning of winter in the north and summer in the south.

Spaceweather.com Time Machine

https://twitter.com/x/status/1737850612426154355

https://twitter.com/x/status/1737861748672372974

 

[Puma]

Don’t miss the “Christmas comet” 62P/Tsuchinshan It will be visible through binoculars!

62P/Tsuchinshan

Perihelion: December 25 (mag 9.0)
Earth Approach: January 29, 2024 (mag 9.5)

Where to observe: Northern Hemisphere

Visibility forecast: Comet 62P/Tsuchinshan can be called a "Christmas comet" as it reaches its closest point to the Sun on December 25 this year. The comet will be well positioned in the night sky and may become bright enough to be observable through binoculars. It will appear above the horizon around midnight local time and will reach its highest point in the sky around 5-6 a.m. You can find the comet in the constellation Leo.​

Description: 62P/Tsuchinshan is a short-period comet discovered on January 1, 1965 at the Purple Mountain Observatory (Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory) in Nanjing, China. Its orbital period (6.4 years) is relatively short compared to other comets.

¿Cuándo es el Próximo Cometa? Calendario de Cometas 2023-2034

Aprende sobre los cometas más brillantes observables desde la Tierra en 2023. ¡Algunos de ellos podrían ser visibles a través de binoculares o incluso a simple vista!

starwalk.space

Comet 62P/Tsuchinshan