Partial Lunar eclipse 25-Apr-2013

Truth is, I had no expectations from yesterday partial lunar eclipse. It was as partial as partial can be and only 1.5% of the moon surface was in the earth full shade (Umbra). The rest was in the Penumbra and 1.5% was not even in any shade... Anyway, an eclipse is an eclipse and I was curious to see how such a partial eclipse will look like. It turned out to look very good even to the naked eye, the shaded moon was obvious even in the penumbral phase. After the eclipse I observed Saturn which was near the moon.
First a photo of my tools of the trade:

Astronomy - tools of the trade

Here are some photos from the eclipse

Partial lunar eclipse - Penumbarl phase

Partial lunar eclipse - Beginning

Partial lunar eclipse - getting better

Partial lunar eclipse - noticeable

Partial lunar eclipse - Greatest

Partial lunar eclipse - fading

Partial lunar eclipse - little bit less

Partial lunar eclipse - the end

And here is tiny photo of Saturn from the same evening

Double Iridium Flare

Iridium flares are bright flashes of light caused by sunlight reflected from any of the Iridium satellites. We wrote about how to see the ISS an another satellites before, but this time I will present a photo of a double Iridium flare. It seems odd since the satellites are spread evenly across the sky, so how come there will be two flares in less than 2 minutes in the exact same place? The answer is that one of the satellites is active and the other one is an old one or a backup one. This is the case with the pair Iridium14 and Iridium62 satellites who gave the double flash seen below.
The exposure is for 13 seconds. I couldn't take longer exposure because there were high clouds reflecting some remaining sun light (the photos were taken shortly after sunset). Seems I missed a few seconds from the second flare (the lower) I've cropped the relevant part and stacked two photos together. I hope you will like the result:

Double Iridium Flare

Seeing Jupiter in daylight

Until recently  I thought that the only planet visible in daylight is Venus. Although I was able to track Jupiter some minutes after sunrise, I didn't think it is possible to see it an hour or even more before sunset/after sunrise. However, reading this article in EarthSky proved me wrong and I immediately tried to carry out the suggested observation. Some notes and tips:

1. You really need to use the moon as a guide to locate Jupiter. Jupiter is very dim and locating it with nothing to mark its whereabouts in the sky is extremely hard. Also it is easy to focus on the moon and then search for Jupiter.
2. It is best to view Jupiter when it is 3 months behind/before the sun so when the sun is low, Jupiter is high in the sky (the angle between the sun and Jupiter is about 90 degrees).
3. Although the article mentions that the best conditions occur once in 12 years, you should try and observe Jupiter in daylight even in not the greatest of conditions and at least once a year.

In my case It was easy to spot the moon and I was surprised to find Jupiter quite easily. Here are some quick snaps.

The moon in daylight

 You will need to enlarge the next photo. Jupiter is in the bottom right corner.

The moon and Jupiter in daylight

Carnival of Space #290

Welcome to Carnival of space # 290. The carnival is a collection from high quality blogs and websites dealing with space and astronomy. Just to open this Carnival I will mention that the publish day of this Carnival is the Jewish holiday of Purim, as you can read all about in the book of Esther. In the book of Esther there are some remarks for astronomers and astrologist (Which was more or less the same 2000 years ago in Persia). For example look at chapter 1 verse 13 (I am using a Jewish translation so there will probably be some differences from your version): "Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times--for so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment". It is clear that the wise men who knew the times were the astronomers tracking the motion of the planets... If you happen to know Hebrew or want to check if Google translate will manage to translate it to your mother tongue, try reading the Hebrew version of "Astronomy and Purim".

And here are the articles for this carnival:

The Once and Future Moon, part of Air&Space magazine writes about Geological sampling and planetary exploration.

Next big Future writes about Dennis Tito which is planning a space mission that would involve a flyby of Mars with a free return back to Earth, without stopping. That type of low-energy trajectory requires a special set of orbital circumstances: The presentation says those circumstances exist for the 2018 opportunity but won't repeat until 2031. Two astronauts living in spartan conditions could make the 501-day trip in a modified SpaceX Dragon capsule, launched by SpaceX's yet-to-be-flown Falcon Heavy rocket.

Another item from Next big future is about Carver Mead that said that we're all taught that there was a revolution in scientific thought that started with relativity and quantum mechanics. "Actually, that's not the case," he said. "A revolution is when something goes clear around. And what happened starting in the first 25 years of the 20th century was that there was the beginning of a revolution, and it got stuck about a quarter of the way around."

From Computer pioneer Carver Mead's point of view, the key to a more intuitive explanation of the universe lies in not only the interrelationships of matter and
forces, but also a better understanding of the electron. "We need to treat the wave functions of our electrons as real wave functions," he said. "I have found personally that I had to go all the way back and reformulate the laws of electromagnetism, starting with the quantum nature of the electron as the foundation."

A more holistic approach was suggested by none other than the Austrian physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach. As Mead tells it, Mach "took Newton to task. He said, 'Look, your idea of absolute motion is a stupid idea. Motion can only have meaning when what it is that's moving is moving relative to other matter in the universe'."

And the last item from Next Big future is about the question are we alone? Although hundreds of planets orbiting other stars have been discovered in the past 15 years, we cannot yet answer the age-old question of whether any of these planets are capable of sustaining life. However, new NASA technology may change that, by giving us our first look at distant planets that not only are the right size and traveling in the temperate habitable zone of their host star, but also show signs of potential life, such as atmospheric oxygen and liquid water.

3D printing is a genuinely incredible new technology. After taking off in the 21st century on Earth, it looks set to become one of the defining technologies in human space travel and colonization. Could 3D printed food provide astronauts with the meals of the future? Find out in this fine article by Markus Hammonds from Discovery new.

The Meridian Journal also writes about the possibility of finding life on exoplanets. Colourful exoplanets may be first to show evidence of alien life.

Everyday Spacer writes to increase awareness about a science fair which is in jeopardy.

And if you need some reading recommendations, Catholicsensibility send us his impressions of the book "The Brightest Stars".

Did you manage to See 2012 DA14? I didn't although other people in my area did. Astro Swanny's AAArtscope blog summarize the close approach of the asteroid. And Astroblog Ian Musgrav sends us his superb pictures of the flyby!

Our last item for this week from L. Riofrio gives tribute to his colleague David S. McKay who trained Apollo astronauts in geology and found signs of life in a Martian meteorite, passed away this week.

That's all for the week, May your days be long and your nights clear!