Posts Made By: Curt Renz

Mercury will be elongated only 3 arcminutes (1/20 degree) from the first magnitude star Regulus in Leo on Friday morning, 2004 SEP 10. That will be the first morning following Mercury's greatest western elongation for this cycle. I have created two preview graphics of the event. They are customized for London, England where the bodies will be visible in the eastern pre-dawn sky at the time of closest angular approach. During the ideal viewing period here in Chicago the scene will be similar, but Mercury and Regulus will appear 16 arcminutes apart.

The first graphic previews the eastern pre-dawn sky with Mercury and Regulus down low and close togerther, while the Moon, Venus and Saturn form a nice triangle higher up.

The second graphic is a close-up telescopic preview of Mercury and Regulus in the central portion of the screen with no optical inversions (zenith up, east left). Positional data with further enlarged views are included in the margins.

Click:
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

The graphics may be removed shortly after the event occurs.

Who will be first to spot the New Moon by naked-eye after its conjunction with the Sun on 2004 SEP 14 @ 14:29 UT?

This slender crescent Moon was traditionally referred to as the New Moon. On the day of conjunction it was called the Dark Moon. Most modern calendar makers, however, label the conjunction day as that of the New Moon.

This is a difficult time of year for New Moon spotters north of the tropics due to the sharp angle which the ecliptic strikes the horizon at sunset. So don't be discouraged if your timing is not a record breaker.

The repeat winner for both July and August was Navneeth (SN1987A) in Madras, India. Since I began this series in March, the overall champion is DanielO in Michigan with a March sighting at 25:37 after conjunction.

Please report your September observation within this thread, including location and time with zone. Even negative results would be interesting. Photos would be especially nice. No prizes, just bragging rights. 8)

I've created a graphic previewing the western sky soon after sunset on WED SEP 15 as seen from Chicago, although it should be useful for most North American observers. To see it, click:

http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

Then click the button for the New Moon Spotting Contest.

The graphic may be removed soon after SEP 15.

Venus will pass only 9.0 arcminutes south of the first magnitude star Regulus in Leo on Sunday 2004 OCT 03 at about 15:11 UT. I've created two graphics previewing the event. The first shows the eastern sky about 25 minutes before sunrise as viewed from near Chicago, when the separation will be 14.0 arcminutes. The second previews a telescopic view of the two at the actual moment of minimum separation. In the margin are further enlarged views with detailed information.

To see them, click:
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

Then click both of the blue buttons for Venus Conjuncts Regulus.

I've created an October astronomical calendar that can be downloaded as your computer desktop background wallpaper or printed to paper.

To see it, click:
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

Who will be first to spot the New Moon by naked-eye after its conjunction with the Sun on 2004 OCT 14 @ 02:48 UT?

This slender crescent Moon was traditionally referred to as the New Moon. On the day of conjunction it was called the Dark Moon. Most modern calendar makers, however, label the conjunction day as that of the New Moon.

This is a difficult time of year for New Moon spotters north of the tropics due to the sharp angle which the ecliptic strikes the horizon at sunset. So don't be discouraged if your timing is not a record breaker.

Since I began this series in March within several astronomical message boards, the overall champion is DanielO in Michigan with a March sighting at 25:37 after conjunction.

Please report your October observation within this thread, including location and time with zone. Even negative results would be interesting. Photos would be especially nice. No prizes, just bragging rights.

I've created a graphic previewing the western sky soon after sunset on FRI OCT 15 as seen from Chicago, although it should be useful for most North American observers. To see it, click:

http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

Then click the blue button for the October New Moon Spotting Contest.

The graphic may be removed soon after OCT 15.

I have created graphics that preview the Total Lunar Eclipse for the evening of 2004 OCT 27 (morning of 28th for Europeans.)

They show nine phases of the eclipse as viewed from each of three cities. A fictional blue wall has been placed behind the Moon to make the Earth's shadow obvious. In reality, the shadow will only be apparent as the Moon moves across it.

To see a graphic, click:
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

Then click the small blue button for the eclipse sequence of the city nearest to you.

The graphics may be removed soon after the event occurs.

Venus will soon make a close angular approach to Jupiter. These two are normally the brightest celestial objects other than the Sun and Moon, so it should be an impressive observational event.

Their least geocentric separation of 33 arcminutes will occur on 2004 NOV 05 @ 01:56 UT. Their elongation west of the Sun will be 34 degrees.

I have created two graphics displaying the pre-dawn eastern sky on November 4 and 5 as viewed from Chicago, although they should be quite useful for observers at most locations. To see them, click:
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

Then click the blue buttons for Venus Passes Jupiter.

The graphics may be removed soon after the event occurs.

I've created a November astronomical calendar that can be downloaded as your computer's desktop background wallpaper or printed to paper. The Moon is the main feature. Information on planetary visibility is included.

To see it, click:
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

For those interested in details, read on. Most of the information on the calendar is topocentric and assumes that the observer is located at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. Although, it should well serve those in most northern hemisphere locations.

Each daily Moon image is depicted as it would appear on the night of the two dates it straddles. That includes the orientation of the illuminated portion. Specifically, a waxing Moon is shown as it would appear midway between sunset and moonset. A waning Moon is shown as it would appear midway between moonrise and sunrise. The effects of earthshine and the oppositional flash are also demonstrated.

The phases shown at the bottom of the page are calculated to conform to more intuitive definitions rather than the simplistic ones that were necessary in the age before computers. Dark Moon is the moment during the monthly cycle in which the apparent lunar disk is least illuminated. Full Moon is when the disk is most illuminated. Half Moon comes when the disk is 50% illuminated.

Only the apogee and perigee data are geocentric: center of Earth to center of Moon. Otherwise, this information might seem somewhat chaotic as the Earth's rotation causes a daily oscillation of the distance between a surface based observer and the Moon.

Here are the meanings of the planetary visibility tables. A Morning Star is a planet which at sunrise is either above the western horizon or at least 10 degrees above the eastern horizon. An Evening Star is a planet which at sunset is either above the eastern horizon or at least 10 degrees above the western horizon. A Midnight Star is a planet which is above the horizon at local midnight, the time midway between sunset and sunrise (the evening date is posted.) It is possible for a planet to be all of these during a particular night. Lost in Glare means the planet fails to meet the previous three criteria and is therefore too close to the Sun to be easily observed.

On Tuesday 2004 NOV 09 the Moon will occult (cover up) Jupiter. For American observers this will be a daytime event, but can be seen with a telescope or binoculars.

I've created a graphic which demonstrates the occultation. The central member of three images shows Jupiter as seen by X-ray vision. The other two depict the moments of immersion and emersion. Pertinent data is included with the graphic. It is customized for the location of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. From other vantage points the data will vary.

To see the graphic click:
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html
Then click the blue button for the Nov 9 occultation.

The graphic may be removed soon after the event occurs.

Who will be first to spot the New Moon by naked-eye after its conjunction with the Sun on 2004 Nov 12 @ 14:27 UT?

This month there is an added treat. The Moon will be in close conjunction with the bright star Antares in Scorpius. As viewed from Chicago after sunset on the 13th, Antares will be appear separated from the Moon's limb by only half of the Moon's diameter. Mercury will appear just 3.4 degrees above and to the left of the Moon.

This slender young crescent Moon was traditionally referred to as the New Moon. On the day of conjunction it was called the Dark Moon. Most modern calendar makers, however, label the conjunction day as that of the New Moon.

Since I began this series in March within several astronomical message boards, the overall champion is DanielO in Michigan with a March sighting at 25:37 after conjunction.

This is a difficult time of year for New Moon spotters north of the tropics due to the sharp angle which the ecliptic strikes the horizon at sunset. So don't be discouraged if your timing is not a record breaker.

Please report your November observation within this thread, including location and time with zone. Even negative results would be interesting. Photos would be especially nice. No prizes, just bragging rights.

I've created a graphic previewing the western sky soon after sunset on Saturday, November 13 as seen from Chicago, although it should be useful for most North American observers. To see it, click:

http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

Then click the blue button for the November New Moon Contest.

The graphic may be removed soon after November 13.

EDIT: The winner is announced below.