Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.
Western horizon as seen from Adelaide on Sunday 16 August at 5:25 pm, 20 minutes before sunset. Venus is about two finger-widths beside the crescent Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia 20 min before local sunset (click to embiggen) 10x50 Binocular view of the pair on Sunday 16 August at 5:25 pm. (click to embiggen) While regular readers of this blog know that I'm obsessed with…
On the early morning August 13 (afternoon August 12 UT) there is a Total Eclipse of the Sun , Visible from the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland and Spain. Australia misses out completely, and Iceland looks like it will be clouded out. Not to despair, Several places are doing live-streams of the Eclipse, so you can watch it in comfort, except of course it is in the wee small hours from Australia: NASA…
The New Moon is Thursday August 13 and the First Quarter Moon is Thursday August 20. The Lunar X is visible on the 20th. Saturn is rising just around 10:00 pm local time. Mars is close to the open cluster M35 on the 15th. In the evening, Venus forms a line with the crescent Moon and The bright star Spica on the 15th when Venus is furthest from the sun. On the 16th the crescent Moon and Venus are…
View of the Northern Sky as seen from Adelaide at astronomical twilight(90 minutes before Sunrise) on August 11 showing the location of comet 220P McNaught (red cross). Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia 90 minutes before sunrise. The location of the asteroid Ceres and Mars are also shown as Ceres is within a binocular field of Mars. Click to embiggen Binocular view of Cetus as seen…
To be read in conjunction with the astrophiz podcast #239 https://soundcloud.com/astrophiz/astrophiz-ep239-august-sky-guide-ian-musgrave North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Tuesday, August 4 as seen from Adelaide at 5:41 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Saturn is high above the northern horizon with the waning Moon nearby. Mars is low in the east, below the bright red star…
The eastern sky at 04:54 ACST Sunday, August 9, as seen from Adelaide. The Moon is about to finish occulting the bright star Elnath. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen). The eastern sky at 04:34 AEST Sunday, August 9, as seen from Brisbane. The Moon is about to occult the bright star Elnath. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen). The…
The last Quarter Moon is Thursday August 6 and the New Moon is Thursday August 13. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a long line. Saturn is rising just around 10:30 pm local time. Mars is below the red star Aldebaran, pairing with Elnath (Beta Tauri). On the 9th the waning Moon occults Elnath and is near Mars. In the evening, Venus is visible well after the sky is fully dark . The last Quarter…
The Full Moon is Thursday July 30, the last Quarter Moon is Thursday August 6. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a long line. Saturn is rising just around 10:30 pm local time and is near the waning Moon on the 4th. Mars is below the red star Aldebaran, pairing with Elnath (Beta Tauri). In the evening, Venus is visible well after the sky is fully dark and draws away from the bright star Regulus.…
The Full Moon is Thursday July 30. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a long line. Saturn is rising just around 11 pm local time. Mars is below the red star Aldebaran. In the evening, Venus is visible well after the sky is fully dark and draws away from the bright star Regulus. The Southern Delta-Aquarids meteor shower peaks on Sunday July the 30th but moonlight washes it out. The Full Moon is…
The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday July 21. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a long line. Saturn is rising just before midnight. Mars is below the red star Aldebaran. In the evening, Venus forms a triangle with the crescent moon and the bright star Regulus on the 17th. The following night the crescent moon, Venus and Regulus form a line. The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday July 21. North-Eastern…
The New Moon is Wednesday July 14. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a long line. Saturn is rising near midnight. Mars and Uranus are are drawing apart. On the 12th Mars is near the crescent moon, on the 13th, Mars is closest to the red star Aldebaran, forming a second eye for Taurus the Bull. In the evening, on the 9th Venus is just 1° from Leo’s brightest star, Regulus. Then Venus draws away…
To be read in conjunction with the astrophiz podcast #237 https://soundcloud.com/astrophiz/astrophiz-ep237-july-sky-guide-ian-musgrave Eastern horizon on the morning of Saturday, July 4 as seen from Adelaide at 5:54 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).Mars is closest to Uranus and between the Hyades and Pleiades clusters. The inset shows the binocular view of Mars, Uranus and the…
A halo coronal mass ejection was observed on 30-Jun, associated with an X1.0 flare. Modelling suggests this CME will have a glancing impact with Earth on 03/0500UT +/- 10 hours (early evening on the 3rd AEST). Intervals of G2 geomagnetic conditions are forecast on 03-Jul due to this impact, decreasing to G0-G1 on 04-Jul. Currently conditions are quiet. If storms eventuate, visible aurora may be…
The Last Quarter Moon is Wednesday July 8. On July 7 Earth is at aphelion. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a long line. Saturn is close to the Moon on the 8th. Mars and Uranus are at their closest together in binoculars on the 4th and 5th and the pair are also midway between the Pleiades and Hyades clusters. In the evening, Venus and Jupiter form a line. On the 9th Venus is just 1° from Leo’s…
The Full Moon is Tuesday June 30. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a long line. Mars and Uranus are close together in binoculars and the pair are also midway between the Pleiades and Hyades clusters. In the evening, Venus Jupiter and Mercury form a line. On the 25th Mercury and Jupiter are close in the twilight. On June 28 the Moon occults the bright star Antares (East coast only early…
The western sky at 02:22 AEST Sunday, June 28, as seen from Canberra. The Moon is about to occult the bright star Antares. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen). Click to embiggen The western sky at 02:27 AEST Sunday, June 28, as seen from Sydney. The Moon is about to occult the bright star Antares. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to…
To be read in conjunction with the "Tangent" section of the astrophiz podcast #235 https://soundcloud.com/astrophiz/astrophiz-235-june-2026-sky-guide There is a video going around on that wretched hive of villainy and scum called twitter labelled “Comets are not what we’ve been told”. It shows some very nice time lapses of bright comets with the caption ‘Watch how it moves in lockstep with the…
The First Quarter Moon is Monday June 22. The "Lunar X" can be seen at this time. Earth is at solstice on the 21st. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a line. In the evening, on the 18th, the Moon is close to Venus and the Beehive cluster. On the 20th, Venus and the Beehive are at their closest. On the 25th Mercury and Jupiter are close in the twilight. The First Quarter Moon is Monday June 22.…
Despite the hopeful predictions, it looks like the last set of CME's completely missed earth. Fingers crossed this time. The Earth is expected to become influenced by a recurrent coronal hole on June 12 (Universal time, probably morning of the 13th in Australia) to induce G1 geomagnetic activity with a chance of G2. A CME launched on 11 June is expected to arrive with a glancing blow early on UT…
The New Moon is Monday June 15. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a line. On the 11th the crescent Moon is close to Saturn, then on the 13th the thin crescent Moon is close to Mars. Venus is close to Jupiter in the evening sky. On the 15th, Venus is midway between Jupiter and the Beehive Cluster (M44). On the 17th Mercury, Jupiter and the thin crescent Moon form a triangle. The New Moon is…
The last set of CME's caused a brief G2 storm around 11 pm on the 5th . The northern hemisphere got some decent displays but I've not heard much from the Southern Hemisphere. The Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre reports a fast partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the Sun from 06/1411 UT and is expected to arrive at Earth from 08/1300 UT (that's 11 pm AEST). This CME is…
The Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre reports three coronal mass ejections (CMEs) have been observed associated with two M-class and one X-class flares from region 4455. Modelling indicates the second and third CMEs have an estimated arrival at Earth on 05-Jun at 10:00UT +/- 10 hrs (anywhere from 2pm the 5th AEST to 6 am the 6th AEST). G2 planetary geomagnetic conditions are expected,…
The Last Quarter Moon is Monday June 8. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a line and are joined by the crescent Moon later in the week. Venus is close to Jupiter. On the 4th Venus, Jupiter and the bright star Pollux form an attractive triangle. Between the 8th and 9th Venus is less than 2° from Jupiter and forms a line with Pollux. Mercury returns to the evening sky below Venus and Jupiter. The…
To be read in conjunction with the astrophiz podcast #235 https://soundcloud.com/astrophiz/astrophiz-235-june-2026-sky-guide Western sky on the evening of Wednesday, June 8 as seen from Adelaide at 18:11 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Venus Jupiter, Pollux and Castor form a battered line, with Mercury below, very close to epsilon Geminorum. Similar views will be seen from the…
Full Moon May 31 18:42 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset as seen from Adelaide, similar views will be seen form the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen). Full Moon May 31 18:17 ACST Antares is just coming out of occultation ("Blue" apogee moon +19hrs apogee 15:02 1st June, Full Moon 19:15 31st.) The Full Moon this Sunday May 31 is a "Blue" apogee Moon, the second full…