Naked Sky

[PickledLiver]

After almost four years of interplanetary travel, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will enter into orbit around Vesta, the second largest known asteroid, very early this Saturday.
Mission managers have been steering Dawn ever closer to the 310-mile-wide (500-kilometer-wide) asteroid, and they expect the craft will be captured into orbit around Vesta at about 1 a.m. ET.
Dawn had to travel more than 1.6 billion miles (2.5 billion kilometers) to reach Vesta, which is part of the main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. (Explore an interactive solar system.)
"This is truly an exciting mission, not only because this is the first time ever we will enter orbit around a main-belt asteroid, but because we get a chance to unlock the earliest chapters in our solar system's history," said Chris Russell, principal investigator for the Dawn mission.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...space-science/

[tarnoch]

[BurntBulb]

Guess I need to catch up with this thread!

Comet Elenin was a bust! No matter what the doom-sayers were about!

http://www.space.com/13302-doomsday-...rth-flyby.html

Now for the planets!
Jupiter rises in the west about an hour after sunset, dominating the night sky with it's bright blue disk. But Jupiter is in retro-grade and will fall into the sun as the months go by, and we move around the sun faster.
Venus is in the western night sky at sunset, moving higher into the western sky as the weeks go by, until it is lost in the suns glare.
Mercury wiil show itself, for a few weeks under Venus, at the horizen; but will also fall into the sun. Venus and Mercury will not appear for many weeks until the morning sky.
Mars is in Leo right now, we're catching up with it in our orbit, so we will see it rise earlier as the months go by. Around the 21st, we'll see a 3/4 moon pass by it. so take a look.

[BurntBulb]

OMG! I can't believe I neglected this thread for two months!
Meh...I haven't had the scope out during this time either!
Shame on me!

here's a great vid on this weeks events

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/video...136902383.html

For next week take a look at this one

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/video...137042378.html

And for the last week of the month....

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/video...137043603.html

S&T is getting their shit together!
I ain't gotta lecture you peps anymore!

[BurntBulb]

If any of you are looking to get a scope, please read this first....

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/equip...s/3303926.html

[BurntBulb]

Mars at Opposition on March 3rd.

Every 2 years and 2 months this happen

[BurntBulb]

Sold my 'scope a few months back! Been slacking off lately!

Don't even try to find Mercury, on the 18th it's at elongation, and you'll have a hard time finding it, even for the hour it's up in the morning twilight.
Venus is going into the evening sun's glare, and Jupiter is fading away in the same direction. As the Earth in it orbit puts the sun between these two planets.

Mars is to the S-SE midnight sky and moves to mid-sky by the middle of the month and goes retro-grade on the 15th. About midnight, you'll see a small red star near the star Regulus, then it starts to move eastward, as it approaches ooposition.

[BurntBulb]

Saturn is in opposition on the 15th, the same day Mars goes retrograde!
Saturn is near the star Spica in Libra, about twice as bright.
Take a look at Saturn, with a good pair of binoculars, or a small scope.
The rings are about 45 degrees to us, and is a great sight!

[figatova]

Beautiful and 'huge' Moon today.

[BurntBulb]

Originally Posted by figatova

Beautiful and 'huge' Moon today.

Besure to watch the venus transit tomorrow Fig.