764 replies to this topic

[phx]

I keep forgetting to look also.

There are two showings tonight:

LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE
-------- -------- -------- ------------ ------------
10:08 PM 3 42 38 above NNW 12 above ENE
11:41 PM 3 75 10 above WNW 72 above S

[phx]

Ok, I set my phone to remind me and just watched the ISS go past! I'm surprised at how bright it is.

[Holden West]

I just happened to catch it go by earlier. It's brighter than any star.

[martini]

Oh for Pete's sake. I missed it again. lol

[sebberry]

Tried to see the 9:47 showing tonight from Mt. Tolmie, but there was still a fair bit of light in the sky. I think I saw it tho.

[Holden West]

If you pay five bucks extra you can see it from Silver City.

[martini]

ok I set my alarm for the 11:20 one. Now west is? Where am I looking? lol

[martini]

Bird's eye view. That puppy is moving.

[phx]

Tried to see the 9:47 showing tonight from Mt. Tolmie, but there was still a fair bit of light in the sky. I think I saw it tho.

I found it easy to see despite the twilight.

[sebberry]

I found it easy to see despite the twilight.

Perhaps I was looking the wrong way. I was looking towards the red sky over the inlet.

[Savannah]

Grr... I went out last night and looked, but in the wrong direction. How close to the horizon is it? We have trees and stuff around.

I am going to try again tonight, given the clear skies and relatively early schedule:

SS Mon Jul 20/10:11 PM 4 69 25 above WNW 16 above SE

[mat]

Just saw it - the whole family was out. West to East and quite bright.

[Savannah]

Me too! (What a perfect night for it--warm and clear!) Very bright! Why didn't I think to grab the binoculars?

[Mike K.]

I ventured up to the observatory for their nightly public info sessions. In short, it was fantastic and I got to see some incredible things.

We went up at around 9PM and arrived just as a group of visitors were looking through three portable telescopes. One was pointed at Saturn and three of its moons (that was insane to see!), one at a cluster of 500,000 stars that appears as one star to the naked eye, and the last to the only galaxy visible to us with the naked eye, the Andromeda Galaxy.

We were eventually called inside to the visitor centre (which has a lot of history about the observatory and some of its claims to fame) to partake in a flythrough in the planetarium. This was cool, and Steve, the guide who was also an astronomer, took us through several objects in the sky we would be seeing through the portable telescopes as well as the big beast later on.

After gazing through the portable telescopes after the planetarium show, we went in to the big telescope and got a first hand look at its incredible power. For something built in the early 1900's, it sure could gaze towards distant objects. These big telescopes do not have an eyepiece as most would think but rather they project their images onto a screen, which is then amplified on a wall in black and white (that's right, big telescopes see in black and white -- colour is added later for the human experience).

After that, we took part in an outdoor planeterium display where a guide told us about stars we could see with the naked eye, how to find the north star, the Andromeda Galaxy, and other objects.

I encourage anyone with some free time on a clear evening to head up there and check this out. It's well worth it.

Click here for hours and admission rates.

[phx]

I ventured up to the observatory for their nightly public info sessions. In short, it was fantastic and I got to see some incredible things.

Cool!

...the only galaxy visible to us with the naked eye, the Andromeda Galaxy.

The Milky Way galaxy is also visible to the naked eye if conditions are favourable.

[Holden West]

Mystery Explained: Glow in Night Sky Was Astronaut Urine

Some skygazers were treated to the unexpected view of a bright sparkling glow Wednesday night, created when astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery dumped the waste out into space.

[mat]

Mystery Explained: Glow in Night Sky Was Astronaut Urine

Seriously? Kaka retro entry!

[pseudotsuga]

Anyone else see this? Brightest meteor I've ever seen.

edit - oops I see there is already a thread.

[victorian fan]

Streak across Vancouver Island skyline might have been large meteor -- or not

Many a lucky stargazer on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland watched an impressive white streak of light trail across the dark blue sky Saturday night, but astronomers still have differing thoughts on what caused the dramatic light show.

Around 8 p.m., the brilliant yellowish-white flash could be seen heading westward for 12 seconds, said Dave Balam, an astronomer and telescope operator at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Saanich.

Balam originally speculated that the fireball was a piece of falling, man-made space debris.

But he said space junk generally makes a much more brief appearance in the sky. That suggests the light people saw could have been a satellite decaying and burning up as it entered the Earth's atmosphere, he said.

Other astronomers think it was likely a meteor that might have crashed into the west coast of the Island or the ocean beyond.

Dave Armitage was sitting on the back porch of his Bay Street home when he saw the bright light.

"I just happened to notice, in the corner of my eye, this fireball coming over the top of my head," he said, describing it as a slow-moving, yellowish object with a straight arc. "I probably stood and watched it for over 10 seconds before it headed into the horizon to the west."

http://www.timescolo...4820/story.html

[Mike K.]

Dang, all this rain prevented seeing the meteor shower that takes place around this time every November.