Archive for the 'Sky watching' Category
Orionid meteor shower peaks tonight: Use Twitter hashtag #meteorshower to boast of spotting shooting stars
October 20, 2009 4:33pm
Do something different tonight: Leave the city and the suburbs for a late-night picnic beneath a meteor shower. The Orionids, the second annual meteor shower of the year, is expected to peak Oct. 21 around 3 a.m. PT. The best places in Southern California to view a meteor shower are, as you’d expect, in rural areas. Here’s a photo gallery of some prime viewing locations, such as Red Rock Canyon State Park and Joshua Tree National Park (pictured above and taken during the more well-known Perseid meteor shower that occurs between July and August).
“The best time to watch will be between 1 a.m. and dawn local time Wednesday morning, regardless of your location. That’s when the patch of Earth you are standing on is barreling headlong into space on Earth’s orbital track, and meteors get scooped up like bugs on a windshield,” said Robert Roy Britt on Space.com.
For those of you who want to Twitter your star-gazing experience tonight, use the hashtag #meteorshower. You can also find other reports of people talking about the Orionid meteor shower by searching for “Orionids” on Twitter Search.
Perseid meteor shower 2009: Times to watch, places to go and a Twitter party
August 11, 2009 8:18am
The annual Perseid meteor showers, which seem to radiate from the constellation Perseus, have been viewable to some extent since around July 17. But tonight, they are expected to be at their peak, with as many as 80 meteors streaking the sky hourly.
You can look up for them throughout the night tonight, but especially promising times are between 9 and 11 p.m. PDT, and before dawn on Wednesday morning, according to a NASA blog (by the way, this NASA post provides a fun 101 on meteors).
Just before the first rays of Wednesday, you may see “dozens” of the shooting stars. The 9-to-11 p.m. window, though, is when you should watch for what astronomers call “earthgrazers,” which may make up for their lack of frequency with their memorable good looks. Read the rest of this entry »
Plan for Perseid meteor shower 2009: Prime spots and camp-outs in California
July 22, 2009 12:31pm
Move over, total solar eclipse (we might have asked more politely if you’d bothered at all with the Western Hemisphere). The glitzy Perseid meteor shower is coming to town. The annual sky-showering event starts in late July and goes into August, with the peak this year expected Aug. 12, according to Sky & Telescope magazine. On this date, we can expect as many as 60 meteors streaking the sky per hour.
Where to Go
Now, you don’t want to be among sorry masses squinting at the fuzzy L.A. skies for this galactic event, do you? For some excursion ideas, see The Times’ photo gallery of top viewing spots in Southern California, like Joshua Tree National Park, Red Rock Canyon State Park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Yosemite National Park.
Get yourself a campsite in or around any of those places, and you’ll have a prime perch for viewing if conditions are clear. If you’d like to make a party of it with fellow gazers, here are a couple of other options for you: Read the rest of this entry »
For total solar eclipse, travel to Asia, or Griffith Observatory
July 10, 2009 9:45am
Around the world folks are gearing up for a major switch-off. The next total eclipse of the sun, on July 22 (July 21, California time), will “darken major cities, densely populated countryside, and a vast expanse of tropical ocean,” according to Sky & Telescope magazine. Lasting over 6.6 minutes at its point of longest duration, the solar eclipse will be the longest Earthlings have a chance to see until 2132.
To view this phenomenon, during which the moon completely obscures the sun, in person, you’ll have to get yourself to select portions of Asia or the Pacific islands. Destinations along the path include parts of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, China and Japan.
The “instant of greatest eclipse,” or the longest totality (6 minutes, 39 seconds), will occur above the Pacific Ocean well away from land at 2:35:19 UT on July 22, according to Sky & Telescope. But just before and just after this maximum is reached, the eclipse will be viewable in Iwo Jima and Kitaio Jima, and then the Marshall Islands and Kiribati.
Want to seek a pot of gold at eclipse’s end? Read the rest of this entry »
Early birds will see meteor showers and rare ‘occultation’ Wednesday above L.A.
April 21, 2009 4:08pm
Early risers can expect a double feature in the skies above L.A. Wednesday (April 22) morning.
Around 5 a.m., Earth will pass through the tail of Comet Thatcher, causing the peak of the annual meteor shower known as the Lyrids. Stargazers can expect to see up to 20 meteors, or shooting stars, per hour in dark skies (though in past years it has been more like 90 per hour) as the planet glides through an unusually dense clump of comet debris.
After the Lyrids, an unusual celestial show begins at 5:07 a.m. — something called an “occultation.” This happens when the moon and Venus appear to hover next to each other before the moon fully eclipses Venus.
Get starry-eyed at Pinnacles National Monument
April 5, 2009 7:12am
Pinnacles National Monument is an under-the-radar kind of place. If, to you, the great outdoors is better experienced off the main drag, then you might consider venturing off Highway 101 for a visit. It’s outside the Central California town of Soledad, about 260 miles from Los Angeles.
At Pinnacles, you can hike, climb and absorb some natural silence among talus passages, canyons and 23 million-year-old volcanic rock formations. Plus, the park’s free night hikes, guided by naturalists, seem a great reason to stop in. There are a few on the calendar this spring. Read the rest of this entry »
See comet Lulin shoot across the evening sky
February 20, 2009 4:29pm
A comet, discovered two years ago at a Chinese observatory, will be visible in the evening sky during the week of Feb. 23 to 27, according to astronomers with the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
The greenish-colored comet Lulin will come close enough to Earth (about 38 million miles) to be visible as a small moving point of light with an extended tail. The comet will be closest to Earth on Tuesday, and bright enough to see with the naked eye in ideal dark-sky conditions. Scientists don’t know exactly how bright it will be because this appears to be Lulin’s first trip through the inner solar system.
Look for Lulin after dark in the east-southeast sky Tuesday, just below Saturn in the constellation of Leo.
Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory, said the telescopes at the observatory will be trained on the comet Tuesday through Saturday starting at 7 p.m.
“The comet will look like a small smudge of light with a tail,” he said.
If you miss Lulin this time, prepare to wait for the next showing — in about 15 million years.
To learn more about the comet, go to the NASA website.
– Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times staff writer
[Photo: Comet Lulin approaching Earth; NASA]
12 books of Christmas: ‘John Muir’s Botanical Legacy’
December 21, 2008 4:00pm
Most coffee table books let the photos do the heavy lifting.
Not so “Nature’s Beloved Son: Rediscovering John Muir’s Botanical Legacy,” by Bonnie J. Gisel, with images by Stephen J. Joseph and foreword by David Rains Wallace (Heyday Books, $45).
Don’t misunderstand: It is beautifully illustrated with the species that Muir catalogued on his numerous journeys. (The book is divided into sections: “From Scotland to Wisconsin,” “Canada and Indianapolis,” “Kentucky to the Gulf of Mexico,” “California” and “Alaska.”)
12 books of Christmas: ‘Visions of Paradise’
December 20, 2008 6:00am
My new personal hero may be Bronwen Latimer, who created a photographic escape hatch for these gloomy days when the economic news is as overcast as SoCal skies on a stormy day.
Latimer asked National Geographic photographers where, in their view, was heaven on earth. The result is this luscious book, “Visions of Paradise” (National Geographic, $35), which takes a reader to some predictable places (Hawaii), some not so much (Nebraska) and some I’d never heard of (Lago Ypoa National Park in Paraguay).
The 12 books of Christmas: ‘Sacred Places’
December 16, 2008 12:10pm
If you want something a bit more in tune with the vibe of the season, think “Sacred Places of a Lifetime” (National Geographic, $40).
Its subtitle, “500 of the World’s Most Peaceful and Powerful Destinations,” tells you it’s a big ride, but its really the organizing principle that is fascinating.
