November 2015 guide to the five visible planets

The planets Venus and Mars are in conjunction on November 3, closest until 2017. Read more.

If you like planets, you’ll need to get up early this month. The most noticeable planet throughout November, 2015, is dazzling Venus. Look east before dawn! You can’t miss it. In that same part of the sky, you’ll notice Jupiter, second-brightest planet. Fainter Mars is also in the picture, in conjunction with Venus in early November. Mercury, though nominally a morning planet at the start of the month, is really transitioning over to the evening sky, so it’s virtually invisible in November. Saturn is the lone evening planet this month, though it’ll be hard to spot in the glare of dusk. Saturn will swing over to the morning sky at the month’s end. Follow the links below to learn more about the November planets.

Saturn – lone evening planet – visible at dusk

Venus brightest object in the east before sunrise

Jupiter second-brightest, east before sunrise

Mars and Venus in conjunction early November

Mercury lost in sun’s glare

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Astronomy events, star parties, festivals, workshops for September-December, 2015

Although we show the star Antares on the sky chart, you are not likely to spot this star after sunset – especially at more northerly latitudes. Saturn will pose enough of a challenge. Don’t forget your binoculars and good luck! Read more.

Saturn – lone evening planet – visible at dusk. In early November 2015, the golden planet Saturn pops into view at dusk/nightfall. At northerly latitudes, Saturn sets before nightfall in early November and sets at sunset by the month’s end. From the Southern Hemisphere, Saturn stays out a bit later, setting shortly after nightfall in early November and at sunset by the month’s end.

From all around the world, Saturn is sinking toward the glare of sunset all month long. That’s happening because Earth is zooming ahead of Saturn in the race of the planets around the sun. Soon, the sun will come between us and the ringed planet by the end of November.

Saturn will disappear from the evening sky by around mid-November 2015 and will reappear in the morning sky toward the latter part of December 2015.

How can you recognize this wonderful planet? It’s golden in color, to the eye. It shines with a steady light. Check the chart above for when Saturn will appear near the moon on or near November 12. If you can identify Saturn, near the moon, on this date, we’ll be imopressed! It’ll even be harder to see the nearby ruddy star Antares, especially at northerly latitudes.

Binoculars don’t reveal Saturn’s gorgeous rings, by the way. For that, you need a small telescope. But binoculars will enhance Saturn’s golden color and Antares’ reddish complexion.

Saturn’s rings are inclined at about 25^o from edge-on in November 2015, exhibiting their northern face. A few years from now, in October 2017, the rings will open most widely, displaying a maximum inclination of 27^o. As with so much in space (and on Earth), the appearance of Saturn’s rings from Earth is cyclical. In the year 2025, the rings will appear edge-on as seen from Earth. After that, we’ll begin to see the south side of Saturn’s rings, to increase to a maximum inclination of 27^o by May, 2032.

The waning crescent moon pairs up with Venus on November 7. The green line depicts the ecliptic – Earth’s orbital plane projected onto the constellations of the Zodiac. Read more.

Venus brightest object in the east before sunrise. Here’s a very fun observation to make this month: Venus before dawn. Venus is the brightest planet and third-brightest sky object overall, after the sun and moon. When it’s visible, it’s very, very prominent in our sky. So step outside some early morning, and look east. You’ll surely see Venus shining there.

What’s more, this dazzling world will enable you to locate the fainter yet relatively nearby planets Mars and Jupiter in the morning sky. Be sure to use the waning crescent moon to locate Venus (plus Mars and Jupiter) in the morning sky for several days, centered on Saturday, November 7.

You won’t want to miss Venus and the early morning planets, which glorify the predawn darkness all month long. On Tuesday, November 3, Venus and Mars stage their closest conjunction until October 5, 2017. Throughout November, watch Jupiter and Mars climb higher above Venus in the November morning sky, and for Jupiter to pair up with the bright star Spica on and around November 29.

The early riser gets to enjoy a superb view of the moon and planets throughout the first week of November 2015. The green line depicts the ecliptic – Earth’s orbital plane projected onto the great dome of sky. Read more.

Jupiter second-brightest, east before sunrise Jupiter starts out the month a short hop above Venus and Mars, which are in conjunction on November 3.

Then just keep watching, and witness Jupiter’s quick ascent upward, above Mars and Venus in the morning sky. Around the world, Jupiter rises about 2 to 3 a.m. local time in early November. By the end of the month, Jupiter rises around local midnight at mid-northern latitudes, and roughly one hour after local midnight at temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere.

The waning crescent moon shines close to Jupiter for several mornings, centered on November 6.

If you have binoculars or a telescope, it’s fairly easy to see Jupiter’s four major moons, which look like pinpricks of light on or near the same plane. They are often called the Galilean moons to honor Galileo, who discovered these great Jovian moons in 1610. In their order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. In September of 2015, however, Jupiter’s moons will have a hard time competing with the sun’s glare in the morning sky.

These moons circle Jupiter around the Jovian equator. In cycles of six years, we view Jupiter’s equator edge-on. So, in 2015, we got to view a number of mutual events involving Jupiter’s moons through a high-powered telescope. Click here or here or here for more details.

Click here for a Jupiter’s moons almanac, courtesy of Sky & Telescope.

Circle Saturday, November 7 on your calendar. The waning crescent moon, Venus and Mars will come together a short ways below Jupiter in the predawn/dawn sky. Read more.

Mars and Venus in conjunction early November. Mars is nowhere as bright as Venus or Jupiter. Even so, modestly-bright Mars is easily visible in the predawn sky. Mars shines very close to Venus during the first week of November, and these two worlds are actually in conjunction on Tuesday, November 3. Circle Saturday, November 7 on your calendar, for the waning crescent moon, Mars and Venus will all gather together in the predawn/dawn sky on that date.

After the conjunction of Mars and Venus on November 3, Mars will climb upward, away from Venus. And Jupiter will continue to climb upward, away from Mars. But the planetary line-up will be striking all month long, and you can easily find Mars in between Jupiter and Venus throughout November. Click here for a preview of the November 29 morning sky.

As alluded to before, let the waning crescent moon help guide your eye to Mars in the morning sky for several days, centered Saturday November 7.

Mars will continue to brighten month by month, until the Red Planet culminates in brightness in May, 2016. Believe it or not, Mars will be about as brilliant as Jupiter is now!

Mercury lost in sun’s glare. Mercury is our solar system’s innermost planet and always stays near the sun in our sky. This month Mercury transitions from the morning to evening sky, so it’s essentially lost behind the the sun this month.

Mercury will stay in the morning sky until November 17, 2015. Then it’ll pass into the evening sky, to give both hemispheres a decent evening apparition of Mercury in latter part of December 2015.

Click here for recommended almanacs. They can help you know when the planets in your sky

What do we mean by visible planet? By visible planet, we mean any solar system planet that is easily visible without an optical aid and that has been watched by our ancestors since time immemorial. In their outward order from the sun, the five visible planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets are visible in our sky because their disks reflect sunlight, and these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars. They tend to be bright! You can spot them, and come to know them as faithful friends, if you try.

Bottom line: Venus, Mars and Jupiter adorn the eastern predawn sky all month long. In November 2015, Saturn is the lone evening planet, though quickly fading into the sunset glare.

Awesome month for planets before dawn: October, 2015! Photo taken October 2, 2015 by Mohamed Laaifat Photographies in Normandy, France.

Eastern sky before dawn now. Photo taken September 18, 2015 and submitted to EarthSky by Greg Hogan in Kathleen, Georgia. Thanks, Greg!

View larger. Evening dusk on August 5: Venus at left. Mercury is climbing higher, toward Regulus (at top) and Jupiter (beneath Regulus).

By the evening of July 12, Venus and Jupiter were farther apart and lower in the western sky after sunset. Photo by Robert Kelly. Thanks, Robert!

Photo taken June 13, 2015 by John Nelson at Puget Sound, Washington. Thanks, John!

View larger. | Photo taken in early June, 2015 by Göran Strand in Sweden. He wrote: “One of the last nights during the spring when the stars were still visible … ” Follow Fotograf Göran Strand on Facebook, or @astrofotografen on Instagram. Or visit his website.

View larger.| Venus near the setting sun on November 18, 2014 by Helio de Carvalho Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He wrote, “I managed to capture Venus as it is starting its return to dusk, despite the fact that it is still at a mere 6.2° distance from the sun. The photos show it a few minutes before setting behind the northern side of the 1,021-meter high Tijuca Peak, located some 6.5 km away. It was deeply immersed in the intense glare of the sun, that would set some 13 minutes later.”

Lunar eclipse on the night of October 8, 2014. The object to the left is the planet Uranus! This beautiful photo is by Janey Wing Kenyon of Story, Wyoming.

Debra Fryar in Calobreves, Texas captured this photo of the moon and Jupiter on May 31, 2014. Jupiter was close to the twilight then.

With only a modest backyard telescope, you can easily see Jupiter’s four largest moons. Here they are through a 10″ (25 cm) Meade LX200 telescope. Image credit: Jan Sandberg

Jupiter was rivaling the streetlights, when Mohamed Laaifat Photographies captured this photo in Normandy, France. Visit his page on Facebook.

Venus by Danny Crocker-Jensen

These are called star trails. It’s a long-exposure photo, which shows you how Earth is turning under the stars. The brightest object here is Jupiter, which is the second-brightest planet, after Venus. This awesome photo by EarthSky Facebook friend Mohamed Laaifat in Normandy, France. Thank you, Mohamed.

Skywatcher, by Predrag Agatonovic.

Easily locate stars and constellations with EarthSky’s planisphere.

Don’t miss anything. Subscribe to EarthSky News by email

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/IJfHCr

The planets Venus and Mars are in conjunction on November 3, closest until 2017. Read more.

If you like planets, you’ll need to get up early this month. The most noticeable planet throughout November, 2015, is dazzling Venus. Look east before dawn! You can’t miss it. In that same part of the sky, you’ll notice Jupiter, second-brightest planet. Fainter Mars is also in the picture, in conjunction with Venus in early November. Mercury, though nominally a morning planet at the start of the month, is really transitioning over to the evening sky, so it’s virtually invisible in November. Saturn is the lone evening planet this month, though it’ll be hard to spot in the glare of dusk. Saturn will swing over to the morning sky at the month’s end. Follow the links below to learn more about the November planets.

Saturn – lone evening planet – visible at dusk

Venus brightest object in the east before sunrise

Jupiter second-brightest, east before sunrise

Mars and Venus in conjunction early November

Mercury lost in sun’s glare

Like what EarthSky offers? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

Astronomy events, star parties, festivals, workshops for September-December, 2015

Although we show the star Antares on the sky chart, you are not likely to spot this star after sunset – especially at more northerly latitudes. Saturn will pose enough of a challenge. Don’t forget your binoculars and good luck! Read more.

Saturn – lone evening planet – visible at dusk. In early November 2015, the golden planet Saturn pops into view at dusk/nightfall. At northerly latitudes, Saturn sets before nightfall in early November and sets at sunset by the month’s end. From the Southern Hemisphere, Saturn stays out a bit later, setting shortly after nightfall in early November and at sunset by the month’s end.

From all around the world, Saturn is sinking toward the glare of sunset all month long. That’s happening because Earth is zooming ahead of Saturn in the race of the planets around the sun. Soon, the sun will come between us and the ringed planet by the end of November.

Saturn will disappear from the evening sky by around mid-November 2015 and will reappear in the morning sky toward the latter part of December 2015.

How can you recognize this wonderful planet? It’s golden in color, to the eye. It shines with a steady light. Check the chart above for when Saturn will appear near the moon on or near November 12. If you can identify Saturn, near the moon, on this date, we’ll be imopressed! It’ll even be harder to see the nearby ruddy star Antares, especially at northerly latitudes.

Binoculars don’t reveal Saturn’s gorgeous rings, by the way. For that, you need a small telescope. But binoculars will enhance Saturn’s golden color and Antares’ reddish complexion.

Saturn’s rings are inclined at about 25^o from edge-on in November 2015, exhibiting their northern face. A few years from now, in October 2017, the rings will open most widely, displaying a maximum inclination of 27^o. As with so much in space (and on Earth), the appearance of Saturn’s rings from Earth is cyclical. In the year 2025, the rings will appear edge-on as seen from Earth. After that, we’ll begin to see the south side of Saturn’s rings, to increase to a maximum inclination of 27^o by May, 2032.

The waning crescent moon pairs up with Venus on November 7. The green line depicts the ecliptic – Earth’s orbital plane projected onto the constellations of the Zodiac. Read more.

Venus brightest object in the east before sunrise. Here’s a very fun observation to make this month: Venus before dawn. Venus is the brightest planet and third-brightest sky object overall, after the sun and moon. When it’s visible, it’s very, very prominent in our sky. So step outside some early morning, and look east. You’ll surely see Venus shining there.

What’s more, this dazzling world will enable you to locate the fainter yet relatively nearby planets Mars and Jupiter in the morning sky. Be sure to use the waning crescent moon to locate Venus (plus Mars and Jupiter) in the morning sky for several days, centered on Saturday, November 7.

You won’t want to miss Venus and the early morning planets, which glorify the predawn darkness all month long. On Tuesday, November 3, Venus and Mars stage their closest conjunction until October 5, 2017. Throughout November, watch Jupiter and Mars climb higher above Venus in the November morning sky, and for Jupiter to pair up with the bright star Spica on and around November 29.

The early riser gets to enjoy a superb view of the moon and planets throughout the first week of November 2015. The green line depicts the ecliptic – Earth’s orbital plane projected onto the great dome of sky. Read more.

Jupiter second-brightest, east before sunrise Jupiter starts out the month a short hop above Venus and Mars, which are in conjunction on November 3.

Then just keep watching, and witness Jupiter’s quick ascent upward, above Mars and Venus in the morning sky. Around the world, Jupiter rises about 2 to 3 a.m. local time in early November. By the end of the month, Jupiter rises around local midnight at mid-northern latitudes, and roughly one hour after local midnight at temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere.

The waning crescent moon shines close to Jupiter for several mornings, centered on November 6.

If you have binoculars or a telescope, it’s fairly easy to see Jupiter’s four major moons, which look like pinpricks of light on or near the same plane. They are often called the Galilean moons to honor Galileo, who discovered these great Jovian moons in 1610. In their order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. In September of 2015, however, Jupiter’s moons will have a hard time competing with the sun’s glare in the morning sky.

These moons circle Jupiter around the Jovian equator. In cycles of six years, we view Jupiter’s equator edge-on. So, in 2015, we got to view a number of mutual events involving Jupiter’s moons through a high-powered telescope. Click here or here or here for more details.

Click here for a Jupiter’s moons almanac, courtesy of Sky & Telescope.

Circle Saturday, November 7 on your calendar. The waning crescent moon, Venus and Mars will come together a short ways below Jupiter in the predawn/dawn sky. Read more.

Mars and Venus in conjunction early November. Mars is nowhere as bright as Venus or Jupiter. Even so, modestly-bright Mars is easily visible in the predawn sky. Mars shines very close to Venus during the first week of November, and these two worlds are actually in conjunction on Tuesday, November 3. Circle Saturday, November 7 on your calendar, for the waning crescent moon, Mars and Venus will all gather together in the predawn/dawn sky on that date.

After the conjunction of Mars and Venus on November 3, Mars will climb upward, away from Venus. And Jupiter will continue to climb upward, away from Mars. But the planetary line-up will be striking all month long, and you can easily find Mars in between Jupiter and Venus throughout November. Click here for a preview of the November 29 morning sky.

As alluded to before, let the waning crescent moon help guide your eye to Mars in the morning sky for several days, centered Saturday November 7.

Mars will continue to brighten month by month, until the Red Planet culminates in brightness in May, 2016. Believe it or not, Mars will be about as brilliant as Jupiter is now!

Mercury lost in sun’s glare. Mercury is our solar system’s innermost planet and always stays near the sun in our sky. This month Mercury transitions from the morning to evening sky, so it’s essentially lost behind the the sun this month.

Mercury will stay in the morning sky until November 17, 2015. Then it’ll pass into the evening sky, to give both hemispheres a decent evening apparition of Mercury in latter part of December 2015.

Click here for recommended almanacs. They can help you know when the planets in your sky

What do we mean by visible planet? By visible planet, we mean any solar system planet that is easily visible without an optical aid and that has been watched by our ancestors since time immemorial. In their outward order from the sun, the five visible planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets are visible in our sky because their disks reflect sunlight, and these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars. They tend to be bright! You can spot them, and come to know them as faithful friends, if you try.

Bottom line: Venus, Mars and Jupiter adorn the eastern predawn sky all month long. In November 2015, Saturn is the lone evening planet, though quickly fading into the sunset glare.

Awesome month for planets before dawn: October, 2015! Photo taken October 2, 2015 by Mohamed Laaifat Photographies in Normandy, France.

Eastern sky before dawn now. Photo taken September 18, 2015 and submitted to EarthSky by Greg Hogan in Kathleen, Georgia. Thanks, Greg!

View larger. Evening dusk on August 5: Venus at left. Mercury is climbing higher, toward Regulus (at top) and Jupiter (beneath Regulus).

By the evening of July 12, Venus and Jupiter were farther apart and lower in the western sky after sunset. Photo by Robert Kelly. Thanks, Robert!

Photo taken June 13, 2015 by John Nelson at Puget Sound, Washington. Thanks, John!

View larger. | Photo taken in early June, 2015 by Göran Strand in Sweden. He wrote: “One of the last nights during the spring when the stars were still visible … ” Follow Fotograf Göran Strand on Facebook, or @astrofotografen on Instagram. Or visit his website.

View larger.| Venus near the setting sun on November 18, 2014 by Helio de Carvalho Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He wrote, “I managed to capture Venus as it is starting its return to dusk, despite the fact that it is still at a mere 6.2° distance from the sun. The photos show it a few minutes before setting behind the northern side of the 1,021-meter high Tijuca Peak, located some 6.5 km away. It was deeply immersed in the intense glare of the sun, that would set some 13 minutes later.”

Lunar eclipse on the night of October 8, 2014. The object to the left is the planet Uranus! This beautiful photo is by Janey Wing Kenyon of Story, Wyoming.

Debra Fryar in Calobreves, Texas captured this photo of the moon and Jupiter on May 31, 2014. Jupiter was close to the twilight then.

With only a modest backyard telescope, you can easily see Jupiter’s four largest moons. Here they are through a 10″ (25 cm) Meade LX200 telescope. Image credit: Jan Sandberg

Jupiter was rivaling the streetlights, when Mohamed Laaifat Photographies captured this photo in Normandy, France. Visit his page on Facebook.

Venus by Danny Crocker-Jensen

These are called star trails. It’s a long-exposure photo, which shows you how Earth is turning under the stars. The brightest object here is Jupiter, which is the second-brightest planet, after Venus. This awesome photo by EarthSky Facebook friend Mohamed Laaifat in Normandy, France. Thank you, Mohamed.

Skywatcher, by Predrag Agatonovic.

Easily locate stars and constellations with EarthSky’s planisphere.

Don’t miss anything. Subscribe to EarthSky News by email

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/IJfHCr

2015 SkS Weekly Digest #44

SkS Highlights... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... He Said What?... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... and 97 Hours of Consensus

SkS Highlights

2015: A Very Bad Year for the Global Warming Policy Foundation by Taminio (Open Mind) attracted the highest number of comments of the articles posted on SkS during the past week. Global warming could be more devastating for the economy than we thought by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%) and Interview with Gavin Schmidt by Roz Pidcock (Carbon Brief) each garnered the second highest number of comments. 

Toon of the Week

 

Hat tip to I Heart Climate Scientists

Quote of the Week

“We’re essentially in agreement with other studies that show an increase in ice discharge in the Antarctic Peninsula and the Thwaites and Pine Island region of West Antarctica,” said Jay Zwally, a glaciologist with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of the study, which was published on Oct. 30 in the Journal of Glaciology. “Our main disagreement is for East Antarctica and the interior of West Antarctica – there, we see an ice gain that exceeds the losses in the other areas.” Zwally added that his team “measured small height changes over large areas, as well as the large changes observed over smaller areas.” 

NASA Study: Mass Gains of Antarctic Ice Sheet Greater than Losses by Maria-José Viñas, NASA's Earth Science News Team, Oct 30, 2015

He Said What?

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), candidate for the highest office in the land, thinks that climate change — a phenomenon widely accepted by the scientists who study it — is a religious belief.

“Climate change is not science. It’s religion,” Cruz told Glenn Beck on Thursday.

To back up his claim, Cruz pointed to the way we talk about climate change.

“Look at the language, where they call you a denier,” he said. “Denier is not the language of science … Any good scientist is a skeptic; if he’s not, he or she should not be a scientist. But yet the language of the global warming alarmists, ‘denier’ is the language of religion, it’s heretic, you are a blasphemer.”

Ted Cruz: ‘Climate Change Is Not Science. It’s Religion.’ by Samantha Page, Climate Progress, Oct 30. 2015 

SkS in the News

The Climate Consensus Project (TCP) is prominently cited in Ted Cruz: ‘Climate Change Is Not Science. It’s Religion.’ by Samantha Page, Climate Progress.

Coming Soon on SkS

• Homogenization of Temperature Data: An Assessment (Kevin C)
• Arbitrary classifications hide important hurricane information (John Abraham)
• The thermometer needle and the damage done (Andy Skuce)
• Scientists warned the President about global warming 50 years ago today (Dana)
• Graphene (Agnostic)
• 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #45 (John Hartz)
• 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #45 (John Hartz)

Poster of the Week

 

SkS Week in Review

• 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #44 by John Hartz
• 2015: A Very Bad Year for the Global Warming Policy Foundation by Taminio (Open Mind)
• Newest Entry in Inside Climate News’ #ExxonKnew Story is a Doozy by Peter Sinclair (Climate Denial Crock of the Week)
• Leveraging the Skeptical Science Glossary for references by Baerbel W
• Global warming could be more devastating for the economy than we thought by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%)
• Interview with Gavin Schmidt by Roz Pidcock (Carbon Brief)
• 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #43 by John Hartz 

97 Hours of Consensus: Julienne Stroeve

 

 

Julienne Stroeve's bio page & Quote source

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/1WpBSX6

SkS Highlights... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... He Said What?... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... and 97 Hours of Consensus

SkS Highlights

2015: A Very Bad Year for the Global Warming Policy Foundation by Taminio (Open Mind) attracted the highest number of comments of the articles posted on SkS during the past week. Global warming could be more devastating for the economy than we thought by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%) and Interview with Gavin Schmidt by Roz Pidcock (Carbon Brief) each garnered the second highest number of comments. 

Toon of the Week

 

Hat tip to I Heart Climate Scientists

Quote of the Week

“We’re essentially in agreement with other studies that show an increase in ice discharge in the Antarctic Peninsula and the Thwaites and Pine Island region of West Antarctica,” said Jay Zwally, a glaciologist with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of the study, which was published on Oct. 30 in the Journal of Glaciology. “Our main disagreement is for East Antarctica and the interior of West Antarctica – there, we see an ice gain that exceeds the losses in the other areas.” Zwally added that his team “measured small height changes over large areas, as well as the large changes observed over smaller areas.” 

NASA Study: Mass Gains of Antarctic Ice Sheet Greater than Losses by Maria-José Viñas, NASA's Earth Science News Team, Oct 30, 2015

He Said What?

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), candidate for the highest office in the land, thinks that climate change — a phenomenon widely accepted by the scientists who study it — is a religious belief.

“Climate change is not science. It’s religion,” Cruz told Glenn Beck on Thursday.

To back up his claim, Cruz pointed to the way we talk about climate change.

“Look at the language, where they call you a denier,” he said. “Denier is not the language of science … Any good scientist is a skeptic; if he’s not, he or she should not be a scientist. But yet the language of the global warming alarmists, ‘denier’ is the language of religion, it’s heretic, you are a blasphemer.”

Ted Cruz: ‘Climate Change Is Not Science. It’s Religion.’ by Samantha Page, Climate Progress, Oct 30. 2015 

SkS in the News

The Climate Consensus Project (TCP) is prominently cited in Ted Cruz: ‘Climate Change Is Not Science. It’s Religion.’ by Samantha Page, Climate Progress.

Coming Soon on SkS

• Homogenization of Temperature Data: An Assessment (Kevin C)
• Arbitrary classifications hide important hurricane information (John Abraham)
• The thermometer needle and the damage done (Andy Skuce)
• Scientists warned the President about global warming 50 years ago today (Dana)
• Graphene (Agnostic)
• 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #45 (John Hartz)
• 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #45 (John Hartz)

Poster of the Week

 

SkS Week in Review

• 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #44 by John Hartz
• 2015: A Very Bad Year for the Global Warming Policy Foundation by Taminio (Open Mind)
• Newest Entry in Inside Climate News’ #ExxonKnew Story is a Doozy by Peter Sinclair (Climate Denial Crock of the Week)
• Leveraging the Skeptical Science Glossary for references by Baerbel W
• Global warming could be more devastating for the economy than we thought by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%)
• Interview with Gavin Schmidt by Roz Pidcock (Carbon Brief)
• 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #43 by John Hartz 

97 Hours of Consensus: Julienne Stroeve

 

 

Julienne Stroeve's bio page & Quote source

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/1WpBSX6

Watch for Taurid fireballs this week

View larger. | Taurid fireball caught in bright moonlight by Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona. Photo taken at 3:38 a.m. on November 1, 2015. Thank you, Elliot!

The South and North Taurid meteor showers aren’t known for their large numbers of meteors, but they are known for having a high percentage of fireballs. There’ve been reports this weekend of some great Taurid fireball sightings, including the one from Eliot Herman in Tucson, above. Beautiful, yes? The peak of this shower is coming up this week. The South Taurids should produce their greatest number of meteors – and hence their greatest number of fireballs – between midnight and dawn on November 5, 2015. Try watching on the morning of November 4, too, and even on the mornings before that. The fireballs are flying!

How can you watch for Taurid fireballs? The good news is that the moon is now waning. Last quarter moon is early morning on November 3, according to clocks in North America. There will be a bright moon between midnight and dawn that morning, but the moon will be less and less obtrusive on the following mornings, leading up to the peak on November 5.

And remember these are fireballs we’re watching for. A little moonlight shouldn’t hinder them, as the photo above by Eliot Herman clearly shows.

In general, the South Taurids typically offer about 7 meteor per hour at their peak. However, the other Taurid shower – the North Taurids – always adds a few more meteors to the mix during the South Taurids’ peak night.

It’s the bright ones you really want to see, after all.

Taurid meteors radiate from the constellation Taurus.

The Taurid meteor stream consists of an extremely wide roadway of far-flung debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. When Earth travels through this belt of comet debris, bits and pieces of Comet 2P Encke smash into the Earth’s upper atmosphere to vaporize as rather slow-moving Taurid meteors (28 km/17 miles per second).

Apparently, the original Taurid stream had been perturbed by Jupiter into two branches: South and North Taurids.

Higher rates of Taurid fireballs might happen in seven-year cycles, and the last grand fireball display was in 2008. That could be good news for Taurid-watchers in 2015!

By the way, the first report I heard of Taurid fireballs this weekend was of one widely seen over Poland. If you click to this page, you’ll see some beautiful photos of that Taurid fireball, plus video.

Comet Encke, parent of the Taurid meteor shower. Image via Messenger

Bottom line: We’ve been hearing reports of Taurid fireballs! It’s time to start watching for them. What to expect from the South Taurid shower, and when to watch.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1RmJLGg

View larger. | Taurid fireball caught in bright moonlight by Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona. Photo taken at 3:38 a.m. on November 1, 2015. Thank you, Elliot!

The South and North Taurid meteor showers aren’t known for their large numbers of meteors, but they are known for having a high percentage of fireballs. There’ve been reports this weekend of some great Taurid fireball sightings, including the one from Eliot Herman in Tucson, above. Beautiful, yes? The peak of this shower is coming up this week. The South Taurids should produce their greatest number of meteors – and hence their greatest number of fireballs – between midnight and dawn on November 5, 2015. Try watching on the morning of November 4, too, and even on the mornings before that. The fireballs are flying!

How can you watch for Taurid fireballs? The good news is that the moon is now waning. Last quarter moon is early morning on November 3, according to clocks in North America. There will be a bright moon between midnight and dawn that morning, but the moon will be less and less obtrusive on the following mornings, leading up to the peak on November 5.

And remember these are fireballs we’re watching for. A little moonlight shouldn’t hinder them, as the photo above by Eliot Herman clearly shows.

In general, the South Taurids typically offer about 7 meteor per hour at their peak. However, the other Taurid shower – the North Taurids – always adds a few more meteors to the mix during the South Taurids’ peak night.

It’s the bright ones you really want to see, after all.

Taurid meteors radiate from the constellation Taurus.

The Taurid meteor stream consists of an extremely wide roadway of far-flung debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. When Earth travels through this belt of comet debris, bits and pieces of Comet 2P Encke smash into the Earth’s upper atmosphere to vaporize as rather slow-moving Taurid meteors (28 km/17 miles per second).

Apparently, the original Taurid stream had been perturbed by Jupiter into two branches: South and North Taurids.

Higher rates of Taurid fireballs might happen in seven-year cycles, and the last grand fireball display was in 2008. That could be good news for Taurid-watchers in 2015!

By the way, the first report I heard of Taurid fireballs this weekend was of one widely seen over Poland. If you click to this page, you’ll see some beautiful photos of that Taurid fireball, plus video.

Comet Encke, parent of the Taurid meteor shower. Image via Messenger

Bottom line: We’ve been hearing reports of Taurid fireballs! It’s time to start watching for them. What to expect from the South Taurid shower, and when to watch.

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Humans are not from Earth? [Pharyngula]

Ecologist Ellis Silver says…hang on. Who? Anyone can call themselves an ecologist, so it’s strange that when I tried to find out who this guy is, no one is saying. Try it. Google the phrase “ecologist Ellis Silver, and that association is everywhere — some even refer to him as “leading ecologist” or “important ecologist” — and many also call him “Professor Silver”. “Professor” implies a university affiliation, but they never bother to state where he’s employed as a professor. It’s a mystery.

This cipher of a human being is saying something, as I was about to mention: he’s claiming that he has scientific evidence that humans are actually from another planet, and he’s written a book about it, titled Humans are not from Earth: a scientific evaluation of the evidence. Oooh, provocative. And best of all, if you are subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, it can be read for free! So I did.

It’s drivel.

You are not surprised, I can tell. It’s full of really bad arguments: we are not native to earth because we get sunburns and bad backs, for instance. But essentially every creature on the planet avoids excessive exposure to solar radiation, except the ones that live in caves or the deep sea, and lots of creatures exhibit aging-related disorders — dinosaurs included. Are we to conclude, then, that every species on the planet, from flatworm to elephant, was brought here by aliens?

That argument contradicts another one that I’ll focus on: he claims that there is molecular evidence to show that humans are not related to the other animals on Earth.

Scientists working on the Human Genome Project and other DNA project have discovered an extra 223 genes in humans that do not appear in any other species on Earth. Where the heck did they come from? Some geneticists believe they were spliced into the DNA of native Earth hominids (i.e. Homo erectus) directly from the aliens themselves. (Although whether the aliens spliced in sections of their own DNA or took it from another alien species is unknown.) This resulted in the instant leap from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens (modern humans), with no missing link in between them. (I’ll come back to the lack of a missing link again in the next section.)

That is just the most amazing gobbledygook. I was sitting there throwing red flags frenziedly as I read that…and it’s not an exceptional paragraph. The whole book is this bad.

It is true that there are sequences in the human genome that are not identified as homologous to sequences in other species. They’re called ORFANs. ORFANs are chunks of DNA that are picked up by gene recognition software because they have the standard starting sequence of a gene, and then go on for a significant length (300 base pairs or more) before they are terminated by a stop codon, but that have an internal sequence that doesn’t match anything else in the databases. This is somewhat equivalent to saying that your sentence recognition software, which looks for a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the end, sometimes finds “sentences” in strings of random letters that don’t make any sense. It is totally unsurprising.

Biologists aren’t surprised at all by them. We have multiple explanations that don’t involve aliens making transgenic monkey men. Ian Musgrave has the explanations.

• Some are artifacts — as I said, if you’re just looking for starting and ending punctuation, purely by chance you’re going to find strings that match your criteria in a random collection of letters.

• Some are genes that have undergone so many substitions that they’re no longer recognizable as the original sequence. Those would be especially interesting in an evolutionary sense, I would think, but they’re rare.

• Some are products of horizontal gene transfer. We don’t need aliens to inject us with strange DNA, viruses do it naturally.

• Some really are novel functional genes, like for instance nylonase. But again, we don’t need an alien to inject us with them, but can recover function from random sequences, or chimeric genes produced by accidental fusions of other genes.

So when Ellis Silver asks where the heck did they come from, I have to say that if he’d had even a minimally competent bit of instruction in basic genetics and molecular biology, he’d already know.

He’d also know that that number, 223, is not fixed. As we increase our knowledge by sequencing other genomes, we find more homologies — a lot of people argue that even a few hundred genes inserted by horizontal gene transfer is a gross exaggeration, and as more data accumulates, that number keeps going down. The overwhelming majority of ORFans are simply artifacts, random occurences in the long concatenation of sloppily assembled nucleotides in our genome.

And no, I don’t mean artifacts in the archaeological sense.

But even if they weren’t erroneously flagged random sequences, ORFANs don’t support the thesis of alien transgenic experiments. For one, every species, not just humans, have ORFANs. For another, why is Ellis Silver focused on a tiny number of genes with no known function, rather than the 20,000 that do show homology with other species, and clearly tie us to an Earthly origin?

As long as I’m wondering who Ellis Silver is, I’d also like to tag a few specific names onto some geneticists…you know, the some geneticists vaguely referred to as claiming that ORFANs are alien DNA spliced into Homo erectus. I’ve known a few geneticists in my time, and I don’t know of any who wouldn’t double over in laughter at that hypothesis. Silver’s book doesn’t cite any. I suspect that these geneticists are as nebulous as the aliens Silver wants us to believe in.

I don’t actually believe in Ellis Silver, either. In his book, he claims to be an environmentalist and ecologist from Wisconsin who now divides his time between Texas and England, and that he is the co-founder of Silver Seas marine biology research park. No such park seems to exist. There is a Silversea cruise line, but that’s as close as we get…and Ellis Silver was not one of the founders.

He also claims to be an environmental consultant to a number of major corporations, none named, which is a bit disturbing — this guy knows so little about biology that he shouldn’t be advising anyone on the subject.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/20lyn3y

Ecologist Ellis Silver says…hang on. Who? Anyone can call themselves an ecologist, so it’s strange that when I tried to find out who this guy is, no one is saying. Try it. Google the phrase “ecologist Ellis Silver, and that association is everywhere — some even refer to him as “leading ecologist” or “important ecologist” — and many also call him “Professor Silver”. “Professor” implies a university affiliation, but they never bother to state where he’s employed as a professor. It’s a mystery.

This cipher of a human being is saying something, as I was about to mention: he’s claiming that he has scientific evidence that humans are actually from another planet, and he’s written a book about it, titled Humans are not from Earth: a scientific evaluation of the evidence. Oooh, provocative. And best of all, if you are subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, it can be read for free! So I did.

It’s drivel.

You are not surprised, I can tell. It’s full of really bad arguments: we are not native to earth because we get sunburns and bad backs, for instance. But essentially every creature on the planet avoids excessive exposure to solar radiation, except the ones that live in caves or the deep sea, and lots of creatures exhibit aging-related disorders — dinosaurs included. Are we to conclude, then, that every species on the planet, from flatworm to elephant, was brought here by aliens?

That argument contradicts another one that I’ll focus on: he claims that there is molecular evidence to show that humans are not related to the other animals on Earth.

Scientists working on the Human Genome Project and other DNA project have discovered an extra 223 genes in humans that do not appear in any other species on Earth. Where the heck did they come from? Some geneticists believe they were spliced into the DNA of native Earth hominids (i.e. Homo erectus) directly from the aliens themselves. (Although whether the aliens spliced in sections of their own DNA or took it from another alien species is unknown.) This resulted in the instant leap from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens (modern humans), with no missing link in between them. (I’ll come back to the lack of a missing link again in the next section.)

That is just the most amazing gobbledygook. I was sitting there throwing red flags frenziedly as I read that…and it’s not an exceptional paragraph. The whole book is this bad.

It is true that there are sequences in the human genome that are not identified as homologous to sequences in other species. They’re called ORFANs. ORFANs are chunks of DNA that are picked up by gene recognition software because they have the standard starting sequence of a gene, and then go on for a significant length (300 base pairs or more) before they are terminated by a stop codon, but that have an internal sequence that doesn’t match anything else in the databases. This is somewhat equivalent to saying that your sentence recognition software, which looks for a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the end, sometimes finds “sentences” in strings of random letters that don’t make any sense. It is totally unsurprising.

Biologists aren’t surprised at all by them. We have multiple explanations that don’t involve aliens making transgenic monkey men. Ian Musgrave has the explanations.

• Some are artifacts — as I said, if you’re just looking for starting and ending punctuation, purely by chance you’re going to find strings that match your criteria in a random collection of letters.

• Some are genes that have undergone so many substitions that they’re no longer recognizable as the original sequence. Those would be especially interesting in an evolutionary sense, I would think, but they’re rare.

• Some are products of horizontal gene transfer. We don’t need aliens to inject us with strange DNA, viruses do it naturally.

• Some really are novel functional genes, like for instance nylonase. But again, we don’t need an alien to inject us with them, but can recover function from random sequences, or chimeric genes produced by accidental fusions of other genes.

So when Ellis Silver asks where the heck did they come from, I have to say that if he’d had even a minimally competent bit of instruction in basic genetics and molecular biology, he’d already know.

He’d also know that that number, 223, is not fixed. As we increase our knowledge by sequencing other genomes, we find more homologies — a lot of people argue that even a few hundred genes inserted by horizontal gene transfer is a gross exaggeration, and as more data accumulates, that number keeps going down. The overwhelming majority of ORFans are simply artifacts, random occurences in the long concatenation of sloppily assembled nucleotides in our genome.

And no, I don’t mean artifacts in the archaeological sense.

But even if they weren’t erroneously flagged random sequences, ORFANs don’t support the thesis of alien transgenic experiments. For one, every species, not just humans, have ORFANs. For another, why is Ellis Silver focused on a tiny number of genes with no known function, rather than the 20,000 that do show homology with other species, and clearly tie us to an Earthly origin?

As long as I’m wondering who Ellis Silver is, I’d also like to tag a few specific names onto some geneticists…you know, the some geneticists vaguely referred to as claiming that ORFANs are alien DNA spliced into Homo erectus. I’ve known a few geneticists in my time, and I don’t know of any who wouldn’t double over in laughter at that hypothesis. Silver’s book doesn’t cite any. I suspect that these geneticists are as nebulous as the aliens Silver wants us to believe in.

I don’t actually believe in Ellis Silver, either. In his book, he claims to be an environmentalist and ecologist from Wisconsin who now divides his time between Texas and England, and that he is the co-founder of Silver Seas marine biology research park. No such park seems to exist. There is a Silversea cruise line, but that’s as close as we get…and Ellis Silver was not one of the founders.

He also claims to be an environmental consultant to a number of major corporations, none named, which is a bit disturbing — this guy knows so little about biology that he shouldn’t be advising anyone on the subject.

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NCRI cancer conference day 1: prostate cancer drugs and early diagnosis

For the next three days Liverpool will be home to some of the world’s top cancer experts for the annual National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) conference.

We’ll be blogging the highlights, and sharing updates on all the important talking points from the conference.

You can also follow the conference live on Twitter by keeping an eye on the #NCRI2015 hashtag.

And some research from the conference has already hit the headlines.

The BBC, Mail Online, Telegraph and Express all picked up on research using tiny fat bubbles that deliver drugs to tumours when they’re heated.

Also a survey of 206 women found that many were unaware of the links between alcohol, obesity and breast cancer. ITV News and BT.com have the story.

We also asked a few people what they were excited about seeing over the next few days. Here’s what they said.

• Watch the video on YouTube

And so onto our highlights of today’s talks.

Prostate cancer resistance

We need to find ways of stopping prostate cancer cells from becoming resistant to drugs, according to Professor Charles Sawyers from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

In particular, his team focuses on understanding how prostate cancer cells become resistant to hormone treatments like enzalutamide (Xtandi) and abiraterone (Zytiga).

These therapies are usually given to men whose prostate cancer has spread, and while they do give patients more precious time with their families, eventually the majority of men stop responding as the cancer cells evolve to escape the effects of the drug.

Sawyers highlighted that these treatments can “open up a Pandora’s box of new ways to become resistant to treatment” – meaning cancer cells develop ever more ingenious ways of dodging the drugs.

Dr Charles Sawyers says next-gen treatment of prostate cancer opens a Pandora's box of drug resistance #NCRI2015 http://pic.twitter.com/AkNVyVEEpR

— ecancer (@ecancer) November 1, 2015

So, according to Sawyers, the key to solving the problem is uncovering the ways prostate cancer cells adapt – if we know this, we could potentially stop resistance before it starts.

Interestingly, Sawyers was also keen to see a resurgence in the use of combination treatments – using more than one drug at the same time.

But to do this, Sawyers said we would need to get much better at tracking how these escape mechanisms appear in real-time. This might be by picking up rogue cancer cells and DNA in the blood, but he believes that if we can track the disease better we might be able to adapt therapy accordingly and truly tackle resistance.

Good data matters

Next up, Cancer Research UK CEO, Harpal Kumar, gave a whistle-stop tour of the UK’s impressive efforts to diagnose more cancers earlier.

As he explained, back in 2007 we really didn’t know much about why the UK’s survival rates were lagging behind other comparable European countries.

So the government and CRUK hatched an ambitious plan to find the answers – the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative.

2007 – NAEDI was determined to take action while filling in the gaps in the evidence base for early diagnosis #NCRI2015

— Nell Barrie (@Nell_Barrie) November 1, 2015

Thanks to research over the past few years, we now have vital information that can help make a difference.

For example, awareness campaigns like Be Clear On Cancer are helping encourage people to visit their GPs with possible symptoms.

The array of information we’re gathering on early diagnosis is a perfect illustration of the ‘intelligent use of data’ – identifying the known unknowns to tackle the biggest challenges in cancer research and make a difference sooner.

Cost to NHS of Stage 1 Lung Cancer patient £7952. Stage 4 is £13078. Early diagnosis saves more than just lives #NCRI2015 @CR_UK

— Helen Wood (@Helen_SDM) November 1, 2015

Harpal ended with a touching tribute to the late Professor Jane Wardle – a leading light in early diagnosis research who sadly passed away recently.

He praised her “enormous contribution” to the field, saying she raised the game with “a great deal of humility and humour”. He also announced a new prize set up in her memory, for a team or individual making a significant contribution to early diagnosis research – launching next year.

Dr Kumar @CRUKresearch #NCRI2015 announces "Jane Wardle prize" for contribution to research in cancer early diagnosis

— Peter Sasieni (@petersasieni) November 1, 2015

We owe so much to Jane Wardle. @CR_UK will establish a new prize in early detection in her memory #NCRI2015 http://pic.twitter.com/rLaHwuB2Ub

— Anne Helme (@AnneHelme) November 1, 2015

That’s Sunday’s highlights. Keep checking back for more updates over the next few days.

from Cancer Research UK - Science blog http://ift.tt/1RmEui2

For the next three days Liverpool will be home to some of the world’s top cancer experts for the annual National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) conference.

We’ll be blogging the highlights, and sharing updates on all the important talking points from the conference.

You can also follow the conference live on Twitter by keeping an eye on the #NCRI2015 hashtag.

And some research from the conference has already hit the headlines.

The BBC, Mail Online, Telegraph and Express all picked up on research using tiny fat bubbles that deliver drugs to tumours when they’re heated.

Also a survey of 206 women found that many were unaware of the links between alcohol, obesity and breast cancer. ITV News and BT.com have the story.

We also asked a few people what they were excited about seeing over the next few days. Here’s what they said.

• Watch the video on YouTube

And so onto our highlights of today’s talks.

Prostate cancer resistance

We need to find ways of stopping prostate cancer cells from becoming resistant to drugs, according to Professor Charles Sawyers from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

In particular, his team focuses on understanding how prostate cancer cells become resistant to hormone treatments like enzalutamide (Xtandi) and abiraterone (Zytiga).

These therapies are usually given to men whose prostate cancer has spread, and while they do give patients more precious time with their families, eventually the majority of men stop responding as the cancer cells evolve to escape the effects of the drug.

Sawyers highlighted that these treatments can “open up a Pandora’s box of new ways to become resistant to treatment” – meaning cancer cells develop ever more ingenious ways of dodging the drugs.

Dr Charles Sawyers says next-gen treatment of prostate cancer opens a Pandora's box of drug resistance #NCRI2015 http://pic.twitter.com/AkNVyVEEpR

— ecancer (@ecancer) November 1, 2015

So, according to Sawyers, the key to solving the problem is uncovering the ways prostate cancer cells adapt – if we know this, we could potentially stop resistance before it starts.

Interestingly, Sawyers was also keen to see a resurgence in the use of combination treatments – using more than one drug at the same time.

But to do this, Sawyers said we would need to get much better at tracking how these escape mechanisms appear in real-time. This might be by picking up rogue cancer cells and DNA in the blood, but he believes that if we can track the disease better we might be able to adapt therapy accordingly and truly tackle resistance.

Good data matters

Next up, Cancer Research UK CEO, Harpal Kumar, gave a whistle-stop tour of the UK’s impressive efforts to diagnose more cancers earlier.

As he explained, back in 2007 we really didn’t know much about why the UK’s survival rates were lagging behind other comparable European countries.

So the government and CRUK hatched an ambitious plan to find the answers – the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative.

2007 – NAEDI was determined to take action while filling in the gaps in the evidence base for early diagnosis #NCRI2015

— Nell Barrie (@Nell_Barrie) November 1, 2015

Thanks to research over the past few years, we now have vital information that can help make a difference.

For example, awareness campaigns like Be Clear On Cancer are helping encourage people to visit their GPs with possible symptoms.

The array of information we’re gathering on early diagnosis is a perfect illustration of the ‘intelligent use of data’ – identifying the known unknowns to tackle the biggest challenges in cancer research and make a difference sooner.

Cost to NHS of Stage 1 Lung Cancer patient £7952. Stage 4 is £13078. Early diagnosis saves more than just lives #NCRI2015 @CR_UK

— Helen Wood (@Helen_SDM) November 1, 2015

Harpal ended with a touching tribute to the late Professor Jane Wardle – a leading light in early diagnosis research who sadly passed away recently.

He praised her “enormous contribution” to the field, saying she raised the game with “a great deal of humility and humour”. He also announced a new prize set up in her memory, for a team or individual making a significant contribution to early diagnosis research – launching next year.

Dr Kumar @CRUKresearch #NCRI2015 announces "Jane Wardle prize" for contribution to research in cancer early diagnosis

— Peter Sasieni (@petersasieni) November 1, 2015

We owe so much to Jane Wardle. @CR_UK will establish a new prize in early detection in her memory #NCRI2015 http://pic.twitter.com/rLaHwuB2Ub

— Anne Helme (@AnneHelme) November 1, 2015

That’s Sunday’s highlights. Keep checking back for more updates over the next few days.

from Cancer Research UK - Science blog http://ift.tt/1RmEui2

EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2015

Yay! We’ve been hearing reports of Taurid fireballs. The South Taurid shower should reach its peak between midnight and dawn on November 5, 2015. Meteor rates are relatively low, but you won’t care if you see a fireball! Follow the links below to learn what to expect from the South Taurid and for meteor showers during the rest of 2015.

January 3-4, 2015 Quadrantids

April 22-23, 2015 Lyrids

May 5-6, 2015 Eta Aquarids

July 28-29, 2015 Delta Aquarids

August 12-13, 2015 Perseids

October 8, 2015 Draconids

October 21-22, 2015 Orionids

November 4-5, 2015 South Taurids

November 12-13, 2015 North Taurids

November 17-18, 2015 Leonids

December 13-14, 2015 Geminids

A word about moonlight

Most important: a dark sky

Know your dates and times

Where to go to watch a meteor shower

What to bring with you

Are the predictions reliable?

Remember …

Taurid meteors radiate from the constellation Taurus.

View larger. | Taurid fireball caught by Eliot Herman in Tucson at 3:38 a.m. on November 1, 2015. Thank you, Elliot!

January 4, 2015 before dawn, the Quadrantids

Although the Quadrantids can produce over 100 meteors per hour, the sharp peak of this shower tends to last only a few hours, and doesn’t always come at an opportune time. In other words, you have to be in the right spot on Earth to view this meteor shower in all its splendor. The radiant point is in the part of the sky that used to be considered the constellation Quadrans Muralis the Mural Quadrant. You’ll find this radiant near the famous Big Dipper asterism (chart here), in the north-northeastern sky after midnight and highest up before dawn. Because the radiant is fairly far to the north on the sky’s dome, meteor numbers will be greater in the Northern Hemisphere. In 2015, watch in the wee hours – after midnight and before dawn – on January 4. Unfortunately, the almost-full waxing gibbous moon is out almost all night long, sitting low in the west in the dark hour before dawn. Click here to find out your moonset time..

Everything you need to know: Quadrantid meteor shower

Around the March equinox … fireball season. A fireball is just an especially bright meteor. Northern spring and southern autumn – for a few weeks around the March equinox – is a good time to see one. It’s fireball season — a time of year when bright meteors appear in greater numbers than usual. In fact, in the weeks around the equinox, the appearance rate of fireballs can increase by as much as 30 percent, says NASA.

April 22 and 23, 2015 before dawn, the Lyrids
The Lyrid meteor shower – April’s shooting stars – lasts from about April 16 to 25. Lyrid meteors tend to be bright and often leave trails. About 10-20 meteors per hour can be expected at their peak. Plus, the Lyrids are known for uncommon surges that can sometimes bring the rate up to 100 per hour. Those rare outbursts are not easy to predict, but they’re one of the reasons the tantalizing Lyrids are worth checking out around their peak morning. The radiant for this shower is near the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra (chart here), which rises in the northeast at about 10 p.m. on April evenings. In 2015, the peak morning is April 23. Watch also on the morning of April 22. And you might also see Lyrid meteors before and after that date. The waxing crescent moon will set in the evening, leaving a dark for watching this year’s Lyrid shower.

Everything you need to know: Lyrid meteor shower

May 6, 2015 before dawn, the Eta Aquarids
This meteor shower has a relatively broad maximum – meaning you can watch it for several days around the predicted peak. However, in 2015, the bright waning gibbous moon is sure to diminish the numbers. The radiant is near the star Eta in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer (click here for chart). The radiant comes over the eastern horizon at about 4 a.m. local time; that is the time at all locations across the globe. For that reason, the hour or two before dawn tends to offer the most Eta Aquarid meteors, no matter where you are on Earth. At northerly latitudes – like those in the northern U.S. and Canada, or northern Europe, for example – the meteor numbers are typically lower for this shower. In the southern half of the U.S., 10 to 20 meteors per hour might be visible in a dark sky. Farther south – for example, at latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere – the meteor numbers may increase dramatically, with perhaps two to three times more Eta Aquarid meteors streaking the southern skies. For the most part, the Eta Aquarids is a predawn shower. In 2015, the bright waning gibbous moon will obscure this year’s production. The most meteors will probably rain down on May 6, in the dark hours before dawn. But watch on May 5 and 7 as well! The broad peak to this shower means that some meteors may fly in the dark hour before dawn for a few days before and after the predicted optimal date.

Everything you need to know: Eta Aquarid meteor shower

Late July and early August, 2015, the Delta Aquarids
Like the Eta Aquarids in May, the Delta Aquarid meteor shower in July favors the Southern Hemisphere and tropical latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. The meteors appear to radiate from near the star Skat or Delta in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. The maximum hourly rate can reach 15-20 meteors in a dark sky. The nominal peak is around July 27-30, but, unlike many meteor showers, the Delta Aquarids lack a very definite peak. Instead, these medium-speed meteors ramble along fairly steadily throughout late July and early August. An hour or two before dawn usually presents the most favorable view of the Delta Aquarids. At the shower’s peak in late July, 2015, the rather faint Delta Aquarid meteors will have to contend with moonlight. The waxing gibbous moon will be out until the wee hours after midnight. Try watching in late July predawn sky, after moonset.

Everything you need to know: Delta Aquarid shower

August 12-13, 2015 before dawn, the Perseids
The Perseid meteor shower is perhaps the most beloved meteor shower of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. Fortunately, the slender waning crescent moon rising at or near dawn will not obtrude on this year’s shower. The Perseid shower builds gradually to a peak, often produces 50 to 100 meteors per hour in a dark sky at the peak, and, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, this shower comes when the weather is warm. The Perseids tend to strengthen in number as late night deepens into midnight, and typically produce the most meteors in the wee hours before dawn. They radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus the Hero, but, as with all meteor shower radiant points, you don’t need to know Perseus to watch the shower; instead, the meteors appear in all parts of the sky. They are typically fast and bright meteors. They frequently leave persistent trains. Every year, you can look for the Perseids to peak around August 10-13. Predicted peak mornings in 2015: August 11, 12 and 13. The Perseids combine with the Delta Aquarid shower (above) to produce a dazzling display of shooting stars on what are, for us in the N. Hemisphere, warm summer nights. In 2015, as always, the Perseid meteors will be building to a peak from early August until the peak nights; afterwards, they drop off fairly rapidly. With little or no moon to ruin the show, this is a great year for watching the Perseid meteor shower.

Everything you need to know: Perseid meteor shower

October 8, 2015, the Draconids
The radiant point for the Draconid meteor shower almost coincides with the head of the constellation Draco the Dragon in the northern sky. That’s why the Draconids are best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere. The Draconid shower is a real oddity, in that the radiant point stands highest in the sky as darkness falls. That means that, unlike many meteor showers, more Draconids are likely to fly in the evening hours than in the morning hours after midnight. This shower is usually a sleeper, producing only a handful of languid meteors per hour in most years. But watch out if the Dragon awakes! In rare instances, fiery Draco has been known to spew forth many hundreds of meteors in a single hour. In 2015, the waning crescent moon rises at late night and will not intrude on this year’s Draconid shower. Try watching at nightfall and early evening on October 8 and 9.

Everything you need to know: Draconid Meteor shower

October 22, 2015 before dawn, the Orionids
On a dark, moonless night, the Orionids exhibit a maximum of about 10 to 20 meteors per hour. The waxing gibbous moon will be out the during the evening hours, but it’ll set before the prime time viewing hours, providing deliciously dark skies for this year’s Orionid shower. More meteors tend to fly after midnight, and the Orionids are typically at their best in the wee hours before dawn. These fast-moving meteors occasionally leave persistent trains. They sometimes produce bright fireballs, so watch for them to flame in the sky. If you trace these meteors backward, they seem to come from the Club of the famous constellation Orion the Hunter. You might know Orion’s bright, ruddy star Betelgeuse. The radiant is north of Betelgeuse. The Orionids have a broad and irregular peak that isn’t easy to predict. This year, 2015, presents a fine year for watching the Orionid meteor shower. The best viewing for the Orionids in 2015 will probably be before dawn on October 22. Try the days before and after that, too, sticking to the midnight-to-dawn hours..

Everything you need to know: Orionid meteor shower

Late night November 4 until dawn November 5, 2015, the South Taurids
The meteoroid streams that feed the South (and North) Taurids are very spread out and diffuse. That means the Taurids are extremely long-lasting (September 25 to November 25) but usually don’t offer more than about 7 meteors per hour. That is true even on the South Taurids’ expected peak night. The Taurids are, however, well known for having a high percentage of fireballs, or exceptionally bright meteors. Plus, the other Taurid shower – the North Taurids – always adds a few more meteors to the mix during the South Taurids’ peak night. In 2015, the slim waning crescent moon coming up before dawn will not seriously obtrude on this year’s South Taurid meteor shower. The South Taurids should produce their greatest number of meteors in the wee hours – between midnight and dawn – on November 5. Remember, it’ll be possible to catch a fireball or two!

Late night November 12 until dawn November 13, 2015, the North Taurids
Like the South Taurids, the North Taurids meteor shower is long-lasting (October 12 – December 2) but modest, and the peak number is forecast at about 7 meteors per hour. The North and South Taurids combine, however, to provide a nice sprinkling of meteors throughout October and November. Typically, you see the maximum numbers at around midnight, when Taurus the Bull is highest in the sky. Taurid meteors tend to be slow-moving, but sometimes very bright. In 2015, the new moon comes only one day before the predicted peak, providing a dark sky for the 2015 North Taurid shower.

Late night November 17 until dawn November 18, 2015, the Leonids
Radiating from the constellation Leo the Lion, the famous Leonid meteor shower has produced some of the greatest meteor storms in history – at least one in living memory, 1966 – with rates as high as thousands of meteors per minute during a span of 15 minutes on the morning of November 17, 1966. Indeed, on that beautiful night in 1966, the meteors did, briefly, fall like rain. Some who witnessed the 1966 Leonid meteor storm said they felt as if they needed to grip the ground, so strong was the impression of Earth plowing along through space, fording the meteoroid stream. The meteors, after all, were all streaming from a single point in the sky – the radiant point – in this case in the constellation Leo the Lion. Leonid meteor storms sometimes recur in cycles of 33 to 34 years, but the Leonids around the turn of the century – while wonderful for many observers – did not match the shower of 1966. And, in most years, the Lion whimpers rather than roars, producing a maximum of perhaps 10-15 meteors per hour on a dark night. Like many meteor showers, the Leonids ordinarily pick up steam after midnight and display the greatest meteor numbers just before dawn. In 2015, the rather wide waxing crescent moon sets in the evening and won’t interfere with this year’s Leonid meteor shower. The peak morning will probably be November 18 – but try November 17, too.

Everything you need to know: Leonid meteor shower

December 13-14, 2015, mid-evening until dawn, Geminids
Radiating from near the bright stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini the Twins, the Geminid meteor shower is one of the finest meteors showers visible in either the Northern or the Southern Hemisphere. Best yet, there is no moon to obscure the 2015 Geminid shower. The meteors are plentiful, rivaling the August Perseids, with perhaps 50 to 100 meteors per hour visible at the peak. Plus Geminid meteors are often bright. These meteors are often about as good in the evening as in the hours between midnight and dawn. In 2015, the slender waxing crescent moon will set soon after the sun, providing a wonderful cover of darkness for the Geminid meteor shower. Your best bet is to watch on December 12-13 and 13-14, from mid-evening (9 to 10 p.m.) until dawn.

Everything you need to know: Geminid meteor shower

Animation Credit: NASA MSFC

A word about moonlight. In 2015, moonlight will not pose much of a problem for the April Lyrids, August Perseids, October Draconids, October Orionids, November South Taurids, November North Taurids, November Leonids and December Geminids. There’s some moon-free viewing time for the July Delta Aquarids. The nearly full moon gets in the way of the January Quadrantids and May Eta Aquarids. Our almanac page provides links for access to the moonrise and moonset times in your sky.

Most important: a dark sky. Here’s the first thing – the main thing – you need to know to become as proficient as the experts at watching meteors. That is, to watch meteors, you need a dark sky. It’s possible to catch a meteor or two or even more from the suburbs. But, to experience a true meteor shower – where you might see several meteor each minute – avoid city lights.

Know your dates and times. You also need to be looking on the right date, at the right time of night. Meteor showers occur over a range of dates, because they stem from Earth’s own movement through space. As we orbit the sun, we cross “meteor streams.” These streams of icy particles in space come from comets moving in orbit around the sun. Comets are fragile icy bodies that litter their orbits with debris. When this cometary debris enters our atmosphere, it vaporizes due to friction with the air. If moonlight or city lights don’t obscure the view, we on Earth see the falling, vaporizing particles as meteors. The Lyrids take place between about April 16 and 25. The peak morning in 2015 should be April 22, but you might catch Lyrid meteors on the nights around that date as well.

Where to go to watch a meteor shower. You can comfortably watch meteors from many places, assuming you have a dark sky: a rural back yard or deck, the hood of your car, the side of a road. State parks and national parks are good bets, but be sure they have a wide open viewing area, like a field; you don’t want to be stuck in the midst of a forest on meteor night. An EarthSky friend and veteran meteor-watcher and astrophotographer Sergio Garcia Rill also offers this specific advice:

… you might want to give it a try but don’t know where to go. Well, in planning my night photoshoots I use a variety of apps and web pages to know how dark the sky is in a certain location, the weather forecast, and how the night sky will look. Here’s the link to Dark Sky Finder. It’s a website that shows the light pollution in and around cities in North America which has been fundamental for finding dark sites to setup shots. Dark Sky finder also has an app for iPhone and iPad which as of this writting is only 99 cents so you might want to look into that as well. For people not in North America, the Blue Marble Navigator might be able to help to see how bright are the lights near you.

The other tool I can suggest is the Clear Sky Chart. I’ve learned the hard way that, now matter how perfectly dark the sky is at your location, it won’t matter if there’s a layer of clouds between you an the stars. This page is a little hard to read, but it shows a time chart, with each column being an hour, and each row being one of the conditions like cloud coverage and darkness. Alternatively, you could try to see the regular weather forecast at the weather channel or your favorite weather app.

What to bring with you. You don’t need special equipment to watch a meteor shower. If you want to bring along equipment to make yourself more comfortable, consider a blanket or reclining lawn chair, a thermos with a hot drink, binoculars for gazing at the stars. Be sure to dress warmly enough, even in spring or summer, especially in the hours before dawn. Binoculars are fun to have, too. You won’t need them for watching the meteor shower, but, especially if you have a dark sky, you might not be able to resist pointing them at the starry sky.

Are the predictions reliable? Although astronomers have tried to publish exact predictions in recent years, meteor showers remain notoriously unpredictable. Your best bet is to go outside at the times we suggest, and plan to spend at least an hour, if not a whole night, reclining comfortably while looking up at the sky. Also remember that meteor showers typically don’t just happen on one night. They span a range of dates. So the morning before or after a shower’s peak might be good, too.

Remember … meteor showers are like fishing. You go, you enjoy nature … and sometimes you catch something.

Peak dates are derived from data published in the Observer’s Handbook by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and Guy Ottewell’s Astronomical Calendar.

View larger. | Scott MacNeill created this wonderful composite image of the Perseid meteor shower in 2013, at Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown, Rhode Island, USA. We love this image, because you can see the meteors coming from their radiant point in the constellation Perseus. Thank you, Scott!

Dick Dionne in Green Valley, Arizona caught this bright Taurid fireball on November 15, 2014. Many reported fireballs in early November this year! Bright objects in upper left of this photo are the moon and planet Jupiter.

EarthSky Facebook friend Eddie Popovits caught this Perseid fireball in early August 2014.

Eta Aquarid meteor captured on May 6, 2014 by Mike Taylor. Visit Taylor Photography.

View larger. | Simon Waldram in the Canary Islands caught this Lyrid meteor on the night of April 20-21, 2014. This year’s Lyrid meteor shower was plagued by bright moonlight.

Mike O’Neal posted this shot of a Lyrid meteor on the EarthSky Facebook page at last year’s shower, on April 22, 2013. He wrote, ‘Had mostly cloudy sky, but did see some beautiful ones between the breaks.’

A North Taurid meteor seen fleeing its radiant point near the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus. Captured by EarthSky Facebook friend Abhijit Juvekar on November 12, 2013. Thank you, Abhijit!

View larger. | Scott MacNeill created this wonderful composite image of 2013 Perseid meteors at Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown, Rhode Island, USA. We love this image, because you can see the meteors coming from their radiant point in the constellation Perseus. Thank you, Scott! Visit Scott’s website, Exit Pupil Creative Workshop.

Eta Aquarid meteor seen by EarthSky Facebook friend Ann Dinsmore on the morning of May 5, 2013. View larger. Thanks Ann!

From EarthSky Facebook friend Guy Livesay. He wrote, ‘ Didn’t see many Lyrids on the 21st or 22nd in Eastern NC. This is from the 21st. There’s actually 2 in this shot very close together.’

Taurid meteor seen by EarthSky Facebook friend Forrest Boone on November 9, 2012 over North Carolina. Thanks, Forrest!

Astrophotographer Stefano De Rosa caught this bright Perseid meteor during the 2012 shower, from the island of Isola D’Elba in Italy. See more of Stefano’s 2012 Perseid meteor photos here.

The Draconid meteor shower put on a fabulous display in October of last year (2011). European observers saw over 600 meteors per hour. Image copyright: Frank Martin Ingilæ. Used with permission. Click here to expand.

EarthSky Facebook friend Dave Walker caught this 2012 Perseid meteor on the morning of August 12, 2012.

A bright Perseid meteor seen by astrophotographer Stefano De Rosa this morning (August 12) on the island of Isola D’Elba in Italy. See more of Stefano’s 202 Perseid meteor photos here.

EarthSky Facebook friend Brian Emfinger created this amazing composite view during the 2012 Perseid meteor shower. Perseid meteors tend to cross the sky one by one. But this photo captures what you can expect to see during a burst of meteors – when several at once cross the sky – or during a particularly rich meteor display. Fantastic image Brian! Thank you.

An Eta Aquarid meteor streaks over northern Georgia on April 29, 2012. Image credit: NASA/MSFC/B. Cooke

Image Credit: Jimmy Westlake

Photo from Goldpaint Photography of an Orionid meteor shower at Middle Falls, near Mount Shasta, California. It’s a composite consisting of every meteor captured during the night and includes the Milky Way over the illuminated falls. The image was Grand Prize Winner of Outdoor Photographer Magazine’s 3rd Annual Great Outdoors Photography Contest in 2012. Notice there is more than one shower happening here. More from Goldpaint Photography here.

This Geminid meteor is seen coming straight from its radiant point, which is near the two brightest stars in Gemini, Castor and Pollux. Photo taken on the night of December 12-13, 2012 by EarthSky Facebook friend Mike O’Neal in Oklahoma. He said the 2012 Geminid meteor shower was one of the best meteor shows he’s ever seen.

Bottom line: The Lyrid meteor shower is next on the mornings of April 22 and 23. April 23 will probably have more meteors. Details on how to watch, plus listings of all major meteor showers in 2015.

EarthSky’s top 10 tips for meteor-watchers

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/Jymlye

Yay! We’ve been hearing reports of Taurid fireballs. The South Taurid shower should reach its peak between midnight and dawn on November 5, 2015. Meteor rates are relatively low, but you won’t care if you see a fireball! Follow the links below to learn what to expect from the South Taurid and for meteor showers during the rest of 2015.

January 3-4, 2015 Quadrantids

April 22-23, 2015 Lyrids

May 5-6, 2015 Eta Aquarids

July 28-29, 2015 Delta Aquarids

August 12-13, 2015 Perseids

October 8, 2015 Draconids

October 21-22, 2015 Orionids

November 4-5, 2015 South Taurids

November 12-13, 2015 North Taurids

November 17-18, 2015 Leonids

December 13-14, 2015 Geminids

A word about moonlight

Most important: a dark sky

Know your dates and times

Where to go to watch a meteor shower

What to bring with you

Are the predictions reliable?

Remember …

Taurid meteors radiate from the constellation Taurus.

View larger. | Taurid fireball caught by Eliot Herman in Tucson at 3:38 a.m. on November 1, 2015. Thank you, Elliot!

January 4, 2015 before dawn, the Quadrantids

Although the Quadrantids can produce over 100 meteors per hour, the sharp peak of this shower tends to last only a few hours, and doesn’t always come at an opportune time. In other words, you have to be in the right spot on Earth to view this meteor shower in all its splendor. The radiant point is in the part of the sky that used to be considered the constellation Quadrans Muralis the Mural Quadrant. You’ll find this radiant near the famous Big Dipper asterism (chart here), in the north-northeastern sky after midnight and highest up before dawn. Because the radiant is fairly far to the north on the sky’s dome, meteor numbers will be greater in the Northern Hemisphere. In 2015, watch in the wee hours – after midnight and before dawn – on January 4. Unfortunately, the almost-full waxing gibbous moon is out almost all night long, sitting low in the west in the dark hour before dawn. Click here to find out your moonset time..

Everything you need to know: Quadrantid meteor shower

Around the March equinox … fireball season. A fireball is just an especially bright meteor. Northern spring and southern autumn – for a few weeks around the March equinox – is a good time to see one. It’s fireball season — a time of year when bright meteors appear in greater numbers than usual. In fact, in the weeks around the equinox, the appearance rate of fireballs can increase by as much as 30 percent, says NASA.

April 22 and 23, 2015 before dawn, the Lyrids
The Lyrid meteor shower – April’s shooting stars – lasts from about April 16 to 25. Lyrid meteors tend to be bright and often leave trails. About 10-20 meteors per hour can be expected at their peak. Plus, the Lyrids are known for uncommon surges that can sometimes bring the rate up to 100 per hour. Those rare outbursts are not easy to predict, but they’re one of the reasons the tantalizing Lyrids are worth checking out around their peak morning. The radiant for this shower is near the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra (chart here), which rises in the northeast at about 10 p.m. on April evenings. In 2015, the peak morning is April 23. Watch also on the morning of April 22. And you might also see Lyrid meteors before and after that date. The waxing crescent moon will set in the evening, leaving a dark for watching this year’s Lyrid shower.

Everything you need to know: Lyrid meteor shower

May 6, 2015 before dawn, the Eta Aquarids
This meteor shower has a relatively broad maximum – meaning you can watch it for several days around the predicted peak. However, in 2015, the bright waning gibbous moon is sure to diminish the numbers. The radiant is near the star Eta in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer (click here for chart). The radiant comes over the eastern horizon at about 4 a.m. local time; that is the time at all locations across the globe. For that reason, the hour or two before dawn tends to offer the most Eta Aquarid meteors, no matter where you are on Earth. At northerly latitudes – like those in the northern U.S. and Canada, or northern Europe, for example – the meteor numbers are typically lower for this shower. In the southern half of the U.S., 10 to 20 meteors per hour might be visible in a dark sky. Farther south – for example, at latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere – the meteor numbers may increase dramatically, with perhaps two to three times more Eta Aquarid meteors streaking the southern skies. For the most part, the Eta Aquarids is a predawn shower. In 2015, the bright waning gibbous moon will obscure this year’s production. The most meteors will probably rain down on May 6, in the dark hours before dawn. But watch on May 5 and 7 as well! The broad peak to this shower means that some meteors may fly in the dark hour before dawn for a few days before and after the predicted optimal date.

Everything you need to know: Eta Aquarid meteor shower

Late July and early August, 2015, the Delta Aquarids
Like the Eta Aquarids in May, the Delta Aquarid meteor shower in July favors the Southern Hemisphere and tropical latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. The meteors appear to radiate from near the star Skat or Delta in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. The maximum hourly rate can reach 15-20 meteors in a dark sky. The nominal peak is around July 27-30, but, unlike many meteor showers, the Delta Aquarids lack a very definite peak. Instead, these medium-speed meteors ramble along fairly steadily throughout late July and early August. An hour or two before dawn usually presents the most favorable view of the Delta Aquarids. At the shower’s peak in late July, 2015, the rather faint Delta Aquarid meteors will have to contend with moonlight. The waxing gibbous moon will be out until the wee hours after midnight. Try watching in late July predawn sky, after moonset.

Everything you need to know: Delta Aquarid shower

August 12-13, 2015 before dawn, the Perseids
The Perseid meteor shower is perhaps the most beloved meteor shower of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. Fortunately, the slender waning crescent moon rising at or near dawn will not obtrude on this year’s shower. The Perseid shower builds gradually to a peak, often produces 50 to 100 meteors per hour in a dark sky at the peak, and, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, this shower comes when the weather is warm. The Perseids tend to strengthen in number as late night deepens into midnight, and typically produce the most meteors in the wee hours before dawn. They radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus the Hero, but, as with all meteor shower radiant points, you don’t need to know Perseus to watch the shower; instead, the meteors appear in all parts of the sky. They are typically fast and bright meteors. They frequently leave persistent trains. Every year, you can look for the Perseids to peak around August 10-13. Predicted peak mornings in 2015: August 11, 12 and 13. The Perseids combine with the Delta Aquarid shower (above) to produce a dazzling display of shooting stars on what are, for us in the N. Hemisphere, warm summer nights. In 2015, as always, the Perseid meteors will be building to a peak from early August until the peak nights; afterwards, they drop off fairly rapidly. With little or no moon to ruin the show, this is a great year for watching the Perseid meteor shower.

Everything you need to know: Perseid meteor shower

October 8, 2015, the Draconids
The radiant point for the Draconid meteor shower almost coincides with the head of the constellation Draco the Dragon in the northern sky. That’s why the Draconids are best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere. The Draconid shower is a real oddity, in that the radiant point stands highest in the sky as darkness falls. That means that, unlike many meteor showers, more Draconids are likely to fly in the evening hours than in the morning hours after midnight. This shower is usually a sleeper, producing only a handful of languid meteors per hour in most years. But watch out if the Dragon awakes! In rare instances, fiery Draco has been known to spew forth many hundreds of meteors in a single hour. In 2015, the waning crescent moon rises at late night and will not intrude on this year’s Draconid shower. Try watching at nightfall and early evening on October 8 and 9.

Everything you need to know: Draconid Meteor shower

October 22, 2015 before dawn, the Orionids
On a dark, moonless night, the Orionids exhibit a maximum of about 10 to 20 meteors per hour. The waxing gibbous moon will be out the during the evening hours, but it’ll set before the prime time viewing hours, providing deliciously dark skies for this year’s Orionid shower. More meteors tend to fly after midnight, and the Orionids are typically at their best in the wee hours before dawn. These fast-moving meteors occasionally leave persistent trains. They sometimes produce bright fireballs, so watch for them to flame in the sky. If you trace these meteors backward, they seem to come from the Club of the famous constellation Orion the Hunter. You might know Orion’s bright, ruddy star Betelgeuse. The radiant is north of Betelgeuse. The Orionids have a broad and irregular peak that isn’t easy to predict. This year, 2015, presents a fine year for watching the Orionid meteor shower. The best viewing for the Orionids in 2015 will probably be before dawn on October 22. Try the days before and after that, too, sticking to the midnight-to-dawn hours..

Everything you need to know: Orionid meteor shower

Late night November 4 until dawn November 5, 2015, the South Taurids
The meteoroid streams that feed the South (and North) Taurids are very spread out and diffuse. That means the Taurids are extremely long-lasting (September 25 to November 25) but usually don’t offer more than about 7 meteors per hour. That is true even on the South Taurids’ expected peak night. The Taurids are, however, well known for having a high percentage of fireballs, or exceptionally bright meteors. Plus, the other Taurid shower – the North Taurids – always adds a few more meteors to the mix during the South Taurids’ peak night. In 2015, the slim waning crescent moon coming up before dawn will not seriously obtrude on this year’s South Taurid meteor shower. The South Taurids should produce their greatest number of meteors in the wee hours – between midnight and dawn – on November 5. Remember, it’ll be possible to catch a fireball or two!

Late night November 12 until dawn November 13, 2015, the North Taurids
Like the South Taurids, the North Taurids meteor shower is long-lasting (October 12 – December 2) but modest, and the peak number is forecast at about 7 meteors per hour. The North and South Taurids combine, however, to provide a nice sprinkling of meteors throughout October and November. Typically, you see the maximum numbers at around midnight, when Taurus the Bull is highest in the sky. Taurid meteors tend to be slow-moving, but sometimes very bright. In 2015, the new moon comes only one day before the predicted peak, providing a dark sky for the 2015 North Taurid shower.

Late night November 17 until dawn November 18, 2015, the Leonids
Radiating from the constellation Leo the Lion, the famous Leonid meteor shower has produced some of the greatest meteor storms in history – at least one in living memory, 1966 – with rates as high as thousands of meteors per minute during a span of 15 minutes on the morning of November 17, 1966. Indeed, on that beautiful night in 1966, the meteors did, briefly, fall like rain. Some who witnessed the 1966 Leonid meteor storm said they felt as if they needed to grip the ground, so strong was the impression of Earth plowing along through space, fording the meteoroid stream. The meteors, after all, were all streaming from a single point in the sky – the radiant point – in this case in the constellation Leo the Lion. Leonid meteor storms sometimes recur in cycles of 33 to 34 years, but the Leonids around the turn of the century – while wonderful for many observers – did not match the shower of 1966. And, in most years, the Lion whimpers rather than roars, producing a maximum of perhaps 10-15 meteors per hour on a dark night. Like many meteor showers, the Leonids ordinarily pick up steam after midnight and display the greatest meteor numbers just before dawn. In 2015, the rather wide waxing crescent moon sets in the evening and won’t interfere with this year’s Leonid meteor shower. The peak morning will probably be November 18 – but try November 17, too.

Everything you need to know: Leonid meteor shower

December 13-14, 2015, mid-evening until dawn, Geminids
Radiating from near the bright stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini the Twins, the Geminid meteor shower is one of the finest meteors showers visible in either the Northern or the Southern Hemisphere. Best yet, there is no moon to obscure the 2015 Geminid shower. The meteors are plentiful, rivaling the August Perseids, with perhaps 50 to 100 meteors per hour visible at the peak. Plus Geminid meteors are often bright. These meteors are often about as good in the evening as in the hours between midnight and dawn. In 2015, the slender waxing crescent moon will set soon after the sun, providing a wonderful cover of darkness for the Geminid meteor shower. Your best bet is to watch on December 12-13 and 13-14, from mid-evening (9 to 10 p.m.) until dawn.

Everything you need to know: Geminid meteor shower

Animation Credit: NASA MSFC

A word about moonlight. In 2015, moonlight will not pose much of a problem for the April Lyrids, August Perseids, October Draconids, October Orionids, November South Taurids, November North Taurids, November Leonids and December Geminids. There’s some moon-free viewing time for the July Delta Aquarids. The nearly full moon gets in the way of the January Quadrantids and May Eta Aquarids. Our almanac page provides links for access to the moonrise and moonset times in your sky.

Most important: a dark sky. Here’s the first thing – the main thing – you need to know to become as proficient as the experts at watching meteors. That is, to watch meteors, you need a dark sky. It’s possible to catch a meteor or two or even more from the suburbs. But, to experience a true meteor shower – where you might see several meteor each minute – avoid city lights.

Know your dates and times. You also need to be looking on the right date, at the right time of night. Meteor showers occur over a range of dates, because they stem from Earth’s own movement through space. As we orbit the sun, we cross “meteor streams.” These streams of icy particles in space come from comets moving in orbit around the sun. Comets are fragile icy bodies that litter their orbits with debris. When this cometary debris enters our atmosphere, it vaporizes due to friction with the air. If moonlight or city lights don’t obscure the view, we on Earth see the falling, vaporizing particles as meteors. The Lyrids take place between about April 16 and 25. The peak morning in 2015 should be April 22, but you might catch Lyrid meteors on the nights around that date as well.

Where to go to watch a meteor shower. You can comfortably watch meteors from many places, assuming you have a dark sky: a rural back yard or deck, the hood of your car, the side of a road. State parks and national parks are good bets, but be sure they have a wide open viewing area, like a field; you don’t want to be stuck in the midst of a forest on meteor night. An EarthSky friend and veteran meteor-watcher and astrophotographer Sergio Garcia Rill also offers this specific advice:

… you might want to give it a try but don’t know where to go. Well, in planning my night photoshoots I use a variety of apps and web pages to know how dark the sky is in a certain location, the weather forecast, and how the night sky will look. Here’s the link to Dark Sky Finder. It’s a website that shows the light pollution in and around cities in North America which has been fundamental for finding dark sites to setup shots. Dark Sky finder also has an app for iPhone and iPad which as of this writting is only 99 cents so you might want to look into that as well. For people not in North America, the Blue Marble Navigator might be able to help to see how bright are the lights near you.

The other tool I can suggest is the Clear Sky Chart. I’ve learned the hard way that, now matter how perfectly dark the sky is at your location, it won’t matter if there’s a layer of clouds between you an the stars. This page is a little hard to read, but it shows a time chart, with each column being an hour, and each row being one of the conditions like cloud coverage and darkness. Alternatively, you could try to see the regular weather forecast at the weather channel or your favorite weather app.

What to bring with you. You don’t need special equipment to watch a meteor shower. If you want to bring along equipment to make yourself more comfortable, consider a blanket or reclining lawn chair, a thermos with a hot drink, binoculars for gazing at the stars. Be sure to dress warmly enough, even in spring or summer, especially in the hours before dawn. Binoculars are fun to have, too. You won’t need them for watching the meteor shower, but, especially if you have a dark sky, you might not be able to resist pointing them at the starry sky.

Are the predictions reliable? Although astronomers have tried to publish exact predictions in recent years, meteor showers remain notoriously unpredictable. Your best bet is to go outside at the times we suggest, and plan to spend at least an hour, if not a whole night, reclining comfortably while looking up at the sky. Also remember that meteor showers typically don’t just happen on one night. They span a range of dates. So the morning before or after a shower’s peak might be good, too.

Remember … meteor showers are like fishing. You go, you enjoy nature … and sometimes you catch something.

Peak dates are derived from data published in the Observer’s Handbook by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and Guy Ottewell’s Astronomical Calendar.

View larger. | Scott MacNeill created this wonderful composite image of the Perseid meteor shower in 2013, at Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown, Rhode Island, USA. We love this image, because you can see the meteors coming from their radiant point in the constellation Perseus. Thank you, Scott!

Dick Dionne in Green Valley, Arizona caught this bright Taurid fireball on November 15, 2014. Many reported fireballs in early November this year! Bright objects in upper left of this photo are the moon and planet Jupiter.

EarthSky Facebook friend Eddie Popovits caught this Perseid fireball in early August 2014.

Eta Aquarid meteor captured on May 6, 2014 by Mike Taylor. Visit Taylor Photography.

View larger. | Simon Waldram in the Canary Islands caught this Lyrid meteor on the night of April 20-21, 2014. This year’s Lyrid meteor shower was plagued by bright moonlight.

Mike O’Neal posted this shot of a Lyrid meteor on the EarthSky Facebook page at last year’s shower, on April 22, 2013. He wrote, ‘Had mostly cloudy sky, but did see some beautiful ones between the breaks.’

A North Taurid meteor seen fleeing its radiant point near the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus. Captured by EarthSky Facebook friend Abhijit Juvekar on November 12, 2013. Thank you, Abhijit!

View larger. | Scott MacNeill created this wonderful composite image of 2013 Perseid meteors at Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown, Rhode Island, USA. We love this image, because you can see the meteors coming from their radiant point in the constellation Perseus. Thank you, Scott! Visit Scott’s website, Exit Pupil Creative Workshop.

Eta Aquarid meteor seen by EarthSky Facebook friend Ann Dinsmore on the morning of May 5, 2013. View larger. Thanks Ann!

From EarthSky Facebook friend Guy Livesay. He wrote, ‘ Didn’t see many Lyrids on the 21st or 22nd in Eastern NC. This is from the 21st. There’s actually 2 in this shot very close together.’

Taurid meteor seen by EarthSky Facebook friend Forrest Boone on November 9, 2012 over North Carolina. Thanks, Forrest!

Astrophotographer Stefano De Rosa caught this bright Perseid meteor during the 2012 shower, from the island of Isola D’Elba in Italy. See more of Stefano’s 2012 Perseid meteor photos here.

The Draconid meteor shower put on a fabulous display in October of last year (2011). European observers saw over 600 meteors per hour. Image copyright: Frank Martin Ingilæ. Used with permission. Click here to expand.

EarthSky Facebook friend Dave Walker caught this 2012 Perseid meteor on the morning of August 12, 2012.

A bright Perseid meteor seen by astrophotographer Stefano De Rosa this morning (August 12) on the island of Isola D’Elba in Italy. See more of Stefano’s 202 Perseid meteor photos here.

EarthSky Facebook friend Brian Emfinger created this amazing composite view during the 2012 Perseid meteor shower. Perseid meteors tend to cross the sky one by one. But this photo captures what you can expect to see during a burst of meteors – when several at once cross the sky – or during a particularly rich meteor display. Fantastic image Brian! Thank you.

An Eta Aquarid meteor streaks over northern Georgia on April 29, 2012. Image credit: NASA/MSFC/B. Cooke

Image Credit: Jimmy Westlake

Photo from Goldpaint Photography of an Orionid meteor shower at Middle Falls, near Mount Shasta, California. It’s a composite consisting of every meteor captured during the night and includes the Milky Way over the illuminated falls. The image was Grand Prize Winner of Outdoor Photographer Magazine’s 3rd Annual Great Outdoors Photography Contest in 2012. Notice there is more than one shower happening here. More from Goldpaint Photography here.

This Geminid meteor is seen coming straight from its radiant point, which is near the two brightest stars in Gemini, Castor and Pollux. Photo taken on the night of December 12-13, 2012 by EarthSky Facebook friend Mike O’Neal in Oklahoma. He said the 2012 Geminid meteor shower was one of the best meteor shows he’s ever seen.

Bottom line: The Lyrid meteor shower is next on the mornings of April 22 and 23. April 23 will probably have more meteors. Details on how to watch, plus listings of all major meteor showers in 2015.

EarthSky’s top 10 tips for meteor-watchers

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/Jymlye

No-one cares about Theon [Stoat]

Ages ago, John Theon had his five minutes of fame in the usual tedious manner; as blogged by me and others with too much time on their hands. Since then his wiki-life looks like:

2015-11-01T03:17:34 Acroterion (talk | contribs) deleted page John Theon (G4: Recreation of a page that was deleted per a deletion discussion, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/John Theon)
2011-11-17T15:12:14 Prolog (talk | contribs) deleted page John Theon (G5: Creation by a blocked or banned user in violation of block or ban)
2011-09-07T06:17:17 David Eppstein (talk | contribs) deleted page John Theon (G4: Recreation of a page that was deleted per a deletion discussion: Expired BLPPROD, but had a prior AfD. Wholly worse than the AfD’d article. Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/John Theon)
2009-02-12T01:32:02 MZMcBride (talk | contribs) deleted page John Theon (per AfD)

I know, its not very exciting, but I like to record such things; though it appears that I missed his other two deaths.

We’ve just come back from Paris, BTW. Even RS won’t guess exactly where:

(following that link back to the album and looking at nearby pix is definitely cheating)

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1NKxrPj

Ages ago, John Theon had his five minutes of fame in the usual tedious manner; as blogged by me and others with too much time on their hands. Since then his wiki-life looks like:

2015-11-01T03:17:34 Acroterion (talk | contribs) deleted page John Theon (G4: Recreation of a page that was deleted per a deletion discussion, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/John Theon)
2011-11-17T15:12:14 Prolog (talk | contribs) deleted page John Theon (G5: Creation by a blocked or banned user in violation of block or ban)
2011-09-07T06:17:17 David Eppstein (talk | contribs) deleted page John Theon (G4: Recreation of a page that was deleted per a deletion discussion: Expired BLPPROD, but had a prior AfD. Wholly worse than the AfD’d article. Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/John Theon)
2009-02-12T01:32:02 MZMcBride (talk | contribs) deleted page John Theon (per AfD)

I know, its not very exciting, but I like to record such things; though it appears that I missed his other two deaths.

We’ve just come back from Paris, BTW. Even RS won’t guess exactly where:

(following that link back to the album and looking at nearby pix is definitely cheating)

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1NKxrPj