Dark Sky poll

[Graeme]

]

...as the shadow of the Moon races across the surface of the Earth.

Some lucky chap got the shadow of the ISS hurtling across his home!

International Space Station captured travelling in front of sun - BBC News

That took some very careful planning!

[Graeme]

perigee meaning that there will be essentially no light from the moon at that time. New Moon.

Perigee meaning the Moon at it's closest distance from Earth in it's orbit. (As opposed to apogee, it's furthest distance. (ellipses and semi major axis?)) So visually bigger than the Sun, so totally blocking sun light. (As opposed to an annular eclipse where the Moon is at apogee and is further from us and isn't big enough to totally block the Sun's light.)

Please and Thank You, what do the 2+2 purple ellipses represent? Something to do with the onset and offset of the eclipse, I am sure.

I think they're the start and end of the partial eclipse and total eclipse.

[ChrisGreaves]

(1) Perigee meaning the Moon at it's closest distance from Earth in it's orbit. ...
(2) I think they're the start and end of the partial eclipse and total eclipse.

Graeme, (1) thank you; I stand corrected, and (2) thank you
Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

... there's always time for an early morning Chris planetary motion thought experiment!

Graeme, this is not going to drive me batty, but if you feel it is driving you batty, drop out any time.
It is probably not a Good Thing to try to build a model of the planetary system in my head, because that is surely earth-centric.
This morning around 2:30am I looked East and saw what I took to be Jupiter or Venus low in my eastern sky.
Came inside and whipped out a copy of stellarium web online star map which showed me, I think, Vega and Altair.
No Jupiter, No Venus - usually the two brightest night-sky objects after the moon.
I poked around a bit, and ended up making the Earth transparent:-

Planets.jpg

The arc of light is, I believe, the Earth's atmosphere, The Sun had not yet risen (although it was about to do so), and there are almost all my planets lined up below the skyline.
In my head this makes me "see" that the planets outside Earth's orbit must all be on the other side of the sun (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, but I couldn't locate Neptune and Pluto),
From this image I can't categorize Mercury and Venus. They should not have appeared in the dawn sky because, I think, they are "trailing the sun" at this point, but is that is true, then they might appear in the evening sky immediately after sunset., and if that happens, then those two planets must lie between the Sun and Earth (otherwise if they were on the opposite side of the Sun, the sun's brightness would blot them out/).

I appreciate any correction to my mental model.
Cheers, Chris

[Leif]

I appreciate any correction to my mental model.

I'm not going anywhere near that, but am happy to suggest further viewing: Five major planets to line up in rare planetary conjunction - BBC News

(Other conjunctions may be available in your area.)

[ChrisGreaves]

...but am happy to suggest further viewing: Five major planets to line up in rare planetary conjunction - BBC News

Leif, thank you for this link.

_125591712_northern_hemisphere_640-2x-nc.jpg

If I substitute the label Earth for Moon, I see that indeed the planets are not only lined up, but that they are lined up in the sequence of their position from the sun.
Sunrise is scheduled for 0501 hours, so I should go to bed an hour earlier than usual, say 6pm instead of 7pm so as to wake up around midnight, and go back to sleep at 0100 and thus wake up at 0430 instead of 0530. If I've got that right.

I am contemplating setting my alarm clock and bicycling out along the Elliston Road to avoid some of the light pollution from Bonavista, and sitting on a rise on the road to see what I can see.
I saw Mercury with the naked eye on two consecutive evenings back in 1997/98; my eyes may not be up to it in 2022.
Thanks again, Leif. A Good Link Five major planets to line up in rare planetary conjunction - BBC News
Chris

[stuck]

Sunrise tomorrow where I am is at about 04:30 I I'd need to be leaving the house around 03:30 to allow me time to walk out into a nearby field that offers a clear view to the east / south east so I'd have to get out of bed around 03:20. Sorry can't see that happening.

Ken

[ChrisGreaves]

Sunrise tomorrow where I am is at about 04:30 I I'd need to be leaving the house around 03:30 to allow me time to walk out into a nearby field that offers a clear view to the east / south east so I'd have to get out of bed around 03:20. Sorry can't see that happening.

Only midnight here; I'll be awake again by then.
Give me your phone number and I can make sure that you are awake.

Give me your bank a/c details and you can go back to sleep without waiting for my bill.
Cheers
Chris

[StuartR]

I'd have to go a very long way to find dark skies with a clear horizon, sadly that's not going to happen in the middle of the night

[Graeme]

I was up this morning at 0300 because it was too hot to sleep! I spotted Saturn and Jupiter but the other three naked eye planets were too low behind houses to be seen. Vega would have been high overhead with Altair lower to the South. The bright one in the East was Jupiter. Venus rises at 0300ish at the moment and is unmistakable. If you get lucky and see Mercury rising it won't last long because the Sun is close behind. Uranus and Neptune are there in the line up too but they're telescope objects. If you become an insomniac, you will see Mercury and Venus drop back, disappear behind the Sun and reappear as evening objects. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will rise earlier and wander westwards each night until they too become evening objects.

[ChrisGreaves]

I spotted Saturn and Jupiter... Vega ... Altair lower... Jupiter. Venus rises ... Mercury ... Sun...

Fog.

Untitled.png

Nothing but the sound of Air France flight AFR019 on its way from JFK to Orly.
Why is Air France flying into Orly? Another puzzle to be solved.
Back to bed.
Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

Sunrise tomorrow where I am is at about 04:30 ...

Hi Ken; this struck me as odd, since sunrise this morning in Bonavista as 5:01. There are of course variations according to how close Bonavista is to the longitude that marks the time zone, but Ooop North must be practically on Greenwich, so no variation at your end.
You are measurably further north than I - about 4.6º or roughly 350 miles, which is about the difference between Bonavista and Toronto.
I dare say that 350 miles will effect a 30-minute difference in sunrise in mid-summer.
i recall my Dad telling me that in Scotland one could read the newspaper outside until ten o'clock; me I never tried it.
Cheers, Chris

[stuck]

...longitude that marks the time zone...

Yes, longitude delineates time zones but sunrise / sunset is dependant on latitude. You are at about 48degrees North, I'm at about 54degrees North hence in the summer my daylight hours are a little bit longer than yours.

This site might entertain you:
https://www.gaisma.com/en/location/saint-johns.html

Ken

[PaulB]

Might the approximately half hour difference in time also possibly be attributed to the fact that Newfoundland Standard Time is a special time zone within the Atlantic Standard Time zone. NST is 30 minutes ahead of AST. Newfoundland is located almost exactly 3.5 hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) which is based on the prime meridian (0° longitude).

[ChrisGreaves]

...Five major planets to line up in rare planetary conjunction - BBC News[/url]

2022_06_20220626_210159.jpg

Sunset in Bonavista, taken at 21:00 on Sunday, June 26, 2022. The bright red light atop the water towers, just a hundred yards away, cannot be seen.

2022_06_20220627_040953.jpg

Sunrise in Bonavista. I woke at 4:00 to see a bright light above the water tower light. Vega? Altair? No Fog?!!??? From the foot of my driveway I spot what I think is Venus. I take a contingency shot and rush inside to don white pants and light jacket (for visibility) and dash outside to tuck my pants legs into socks, hop on the bike, and head out to Spillars Cove at 04:27 armed with only a smart phone and a raw carrot (hydration)

2022_06_20220627_044116.jpg

One last wistful look back, mistful I should say. I am pleased that I know how to recognize fog and cut the trip short. I am home by 0500; David is gone to work in St John's and Haydn's "The Creation" is still rattling around on the jukebox, for which I am grateful.
Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

... head out to Spillars Cove at 04:27 armed with only a smart phone and a raw carrot (hydration)

I realize now what a pointless exercise this was.
Heading out of Bonavista to avoid Light Pollution might be commendable at midnight, but is pointless when observing astronomical events that surround dawn or dusk.
The problem in observing this planetary line up is the light pollution caused by the sun, not the light pollution caused by the sodium street light or the neighbour's fox-detecting floodlights.
I should have realized this after my sighting of Mercury and other planets in the 1990s and 2000s from the balcony of apartments in Toronto, of all places!
I blame yesterday's excursion on my childlike eagerness.
Cheers, Chris

[Graeme]

Mercury (and Venus) can only ever be observed in the morning just before sunrise or in the evening just after sunset because it's orbit is close to the sun and it is never more than 28° away. (At greatest elongation, at aphelion)

So you only get a short period of time between when the planet rises above the horizon till when the sun appears. (Never look at the sun! (especially with binoculars, you will go blind!)) If you do this with less ambient light pollution the view will be better.

Nothing wrong with childlike eagerness! If I had a bit more I would have driven out to a better vantage point this morning when I woke up at 0200 to see all five naked eye planets lined up in a row instead of being content with just Mars, Jupiter and Saturn through the kitchen window.

Regards

Graeme

[ChrisGreaves]

... to see all five naked eye planets lined up in a row instead of being content with just Mars, Jupiter and Saturn through the kitchen window.

Grrrrrraeme,
Gr!
Grr!
Grrr!
Grrrr!
Cheers, Chris

[Leif]

If I had a bit more I would have driven out to a better vantage point this morning when I woke up at 0200 to see all five naked eye planets lined up in a row instead of being content with just Mars, Jupiter and Saturn through the kitchen window.

Still better than seeing five naked Chris Greaves through your kitchen window at 0200 in the morning.

[HansV]