Star Gazing and a Night Smoke?


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Any other space nerds out there? This Monday night, Jupiter and its moons will be at opposition (The Earth will basically be exactly between Jupiter and the sun) and appear very large in the night sky. You will actually be able to spot without a telescope, so keep an eye out while having a night smoke (if don't live in a light polluted). If you have a telescope, you should really break it out as you will be have a great view of the surface and the moons.

https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/jupiter-is-outstanding-at-opposition/

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Cool, I’ll be on the lookout. I like to gaze at the stars, but never really know what I’m looking at. I normally just count satellites until my neck hurts.

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That's all well and good for you in Colorado, and me here in Los Angeles. But let's not be rude to our Aussie hosts, who will not be able to see Jupiter or any of the 7 other Northern Planets. Maybe you can offer some advice on how to view whatever planets are visible to those on the bottom of the world? Their names escape me, but I remember people talking about there being things in the sky that are visible from down there.

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4 minutes ago, SenorPerfecto said:

That's all well and good for you in Colorado, and me here in Los Angeles. But let's not be rude to our Aussie hosts, who will not be able to see Jupiter or any of the 7 other Northern Planets. Maybe you can offer some advice on how to view whatever planets are visible to those on the bottom of the world? Their names escape me, but I remember people talking about there being things in the sky that are visible from down there.

The various star-gazing iPhone apps are amazing.  You can point them into the sky, and it will identify for you the faintest speck, and even things that you can't see.  And yes, you can even point them at your feet, and see the sun and all the other things that are hidden on the other side of the planet.  Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

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7 minutes ago, slowsmoke said:

The various star-gazing iPhone apps are amazing.  You can point them into the sky, and it will identify for you the faintest speck, and even things that you can't see.  And yes, you can even point them at your feet, and see the sun and all the other things that are hidden on the other side of the planet.  Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

That's all well and good, but our Aussie hosts won't know what those planets and things are, unless it's the South Pole version of the software. They've literally never heard of "Mars" down there.

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48 minutes ago, BoliDan said:

This Monday night, Jupiter and its moons will be at opposition (The Earth will basically be exactly between Jupiter and the sun) and appear very large in the night sky. You will actually be able to spot without a telescope, so keep an eye out

Thanks - will hope for clear skies :)

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3 hours ago, SenorPerfecto said:

That's all well and good for you in Colorado, and me here in Los Angeles. But let's not be rude to our Aussie hosts, who will not be able to see Jupiter or any of the 7 other Northern Planets. Maybe you can offer some advice on how to view whatever planets are visible to those on the bottom of the world? Their names escape me, but I remember people talking about there being things in the sky that are visible from down there.

Luckily, for our Aussie friends, their southern planet Zeusiperoodingochook will also be at opposition and can be seen in the northeastern sky. It's a lot like our Jupiter, but the red storm swirls in the other direction. ?

 

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Thanks @BoliDan!  I enjoy night time smokes starting at the stars and marveling at the wonders of the universe.  I'll look for it.

Maybe have one of my nicer and longer lasting cigars too!

Wonder if there's an app for Android phones? There must be.

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6 minutes ago, MigsG said:

Thanks @BoliDan!  I enjoy night time smokes starting at the stars and marveling at the wonders of the universe.  I'll look for it.

Maybe have one of my nicer and longer lasting cigars too!

Wonder if there's an app for Android phones? There must be.

Just look South, you should be able to figure it out. It is quite blatant. Definitely not a star light years away.

Jupiter-June-1_2019_S.jpg.bc34f1cdfbb42707b842903c871296cc.jpg

As someone mentioned they saw its.moons with only a pair of binoculars, and it isnt even its pinnacle day yet. ?

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Love a great geek session!  Big-time night sky enthusiast here. Last year around this time Mars was at opposition and it was spectacular since it was also closer to the sun than usual. I also like to track the ISS as it can often be spotted within a few hours after sunset.  The Perseid meteor shower is also a treat for those of us in the northern hemi in August, but unfortunately this year’s will be washed out by the full moon. Will have to enjoy that with my smoke instead.

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Nice call, 
I like to look at Jupiter quite often, a decent pair of 10x binoculars and a very steady hand you can see usually a couple of the Galilean moons. 
I could see 3 and Jupiter did look especially defined, I wish I had a decent telescope here. 

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One of the best nights I’ve ever had was enjoying a week in Iceland with @subport

on the last night the Northern Lights even came out. Good people. Good times. Cold as all hell but it was sensational ??

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Thanks for posting love this stuff 

I think the Southern Hemisphere is one of the most ideal places to star gaze OZ in particular 

?

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I love star gazing while smoking cigars.

Jupiter is starting to come out later in the night... Saturn is coming back around too, about an hour or 2 behind Jupiter.

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