That Toolbag in Outer Space

One of our favorite sites on the internet is Heavens Above. We can find the orbits of dozens of satellites, including the ISS and iridium flares, and current locations of visible comets, planets, and constellations. An interesting recent addition to information on the page is the times for the visible orbit of the toolbag lost by the astronaut Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper during her spacewalk on the last ISS mission. Of course, it's a decaying orbit and so the toolbag will eventually disappear from sight, but it's fun to find in the nightsky while it's visible. To find orbits over your head, go to the home page and put in your location, then follow the info in Satellites: ISS toolbag.

Oh, My!

Seeing Venus in the daytime reminds me of the letter to the Ask Why section of the local WA newspaper which asked, "Why can we see the moon in the daytime?"

Why indeed!

Orion

(click to enlarge)

Orion or The Hunter is our summer constellation. It is barely visible in the eastern sky in October and disappears in the western sky in April. Orion is oriented differently in Australia than in the US. In the US the major stars in the center of the constellation are referred to as the belt and sword. In Australia those same stars are thought of as the saucepan.

Look Up!

Tonight is the perfect night for looking up! Venus is so bright in the western sky that it's clearly visible at sunset. Orion is up in the eastern sky. The Seven Sisters (Pleiades) is clearly visible in the northern sky. The Southern Cross is low in the southern sky.

The sun will set at 8:18 and the moon will rise at 10:11. The air is warm, but not hot. There's a light breeze with no humidity and not a cloud in sight. So it's perfect for a night in the back garden on our banana loungers under the stars. What will happen? Satellites, for sure...Meteorites, maybe...

UPDATE: We saw dozens of satellites travelling through every part of the sky in every possible direction. No meteorites...but a bit of space junk came plunging from above and burned brightly overhead for several seconds. Also the ISS was visible for a long time as it came from the NW and continued across the sky until it disappeared in the SE. Venus was extremely bright, clearly visible before the sun's light disappeared from the sky. The moon was full and bright, rising just as we folded our loungers to return inside.

Venus/Jupiter in Conjunction

Tonight's the night in the US! Quick! Look in the evening sky 7pm Central and see Venus near Jupiter in the southwest sky. Also the crescent moon will appear with earthshine, as pictured left.