UPDATED 12/11/01
Jupiter and Saturn are fairly close to each other as they get up earlier and earlier leading up to summer. In December they will both be near overhead which is the best time to view the planets as there is minimal astmosphere to look through. When an object is low on the horizon, you must look across the Earth first, then out through the atmosphere. Jupiter and Saturn rise in the eastern sky just like the Sun, but at different times depending on your location. They rise roughly 4 minutes earlier every day. By December, Jupiter and Saturn will be at their biggest and brightest, and overhead.
Mercury is always very close to the Sun, thus it is usually twilight when observing the planet. During this month and September it will be possible to view the planet as the distance gap between it and the Sun gets greater and the skies getter darker during the evening.
The planets are usually the brightest objects in the sky, so they are fairly easy to locate if you know roughly where they are.
Venus rises pre-dawn in the east and is the brightest object in the sky.
METEOR SHOWERS
When comets travel around the Sun in an orbit due to the Sun's gravity, it leaves a trail of ice and dust debris as the Sun heats the comet up. As the Earth travels around the Sun it moves through the dust and ice debris, which glow as shooting stars through our atmosphere. The thicker the ice and dust trail the more star trails appear from a single location in the sky which is the origin of the trail. A "Storm" is recorded if the shooting stars reach a high ZHR (Zenith Hourly Rate). Normally we see 5-10 shooting star per hour. ZHR ratings can be above 1000 causing "Storms". Because the path of the crossing is known, we can predict the same path crossing the next year when we travel the yearly distance around the Sun to complete a circle.
CURRENT METEOR SHOWER/S ARE: Leonids Radiating from Leo 2a.m. onwards til dawn on the 19th of November 2001.
A Standard program with many features is $69AUS or $39US$ Plus shipping. Forty thousand objects including descriptions and data.
Awaiting new dates
for further details, contact Fraser Farrell on
(08) 8323 7964
Awaiting new dates
for further details please contact Paul Rogers on
(08) 8263 7666