Six planets Now Aligned in the Dawn Sky

The picture depicts how the planets lined up on Saturday, April 30, 2011 as seen from Los Angeles, California.
CREDIT: Starry Night Software (reposted)
Information provided by: Geoff Gaherty, Starry Night Education

OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS you'll be treated to the sight of all the planets except Saturn arrayed along the ecliptic, the path of the sun through the sky.

For the last two months, almost all the planets have been hiding behind the sun, but this week they all emerge and are arrayed in a grand line above the rising sun. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are visible, and you can add Uranus and Neptune to your count if you have binoculars or a small telescope.

Astrologers have always been facinated by planetary alignments, and the doomsayers of 2012 have been prophesying a mystical alignment on December 21, 2012.

The modern tools of astronomers, such as planetarium software, show otherwise: absolutely no alignment at any time in 2012. BUT, they also reveal a beautiful alignment visible during the month of May this year.

Six planets at one time.

While astrologers view planetary alignments as foretellers of disasters, modern amateur astronomers look forward to them as nothing more than grand photo ops.

If you go out any morning for the next four days, you'll be treated to a view of the crescent moon and all but one of the naked eye planets.

Because the moon moves rapidly from one morning to the next, it will only be part of the lineup for the next four mornings, but the four naked-eye planets will be there for the next few weeks.

Venus is, as always, the brightest and most visible of the planets, and it can be your guide to spotting the others. About half way between Venus and the rising sun is Jupiter, the second brightest planet.

Mars will be a tiny speck just above Jupiter, and Mercury another tiny speck about half way between Jupiter and Venus. Uranus is slightly more than one binocular field above and to the right of Venus, and Neptune is much farther to the right, about 40 degrees away in Aquarius. The Moon will be just above Venus on Saturday morning, and just above Jupiter and Mars on Sunday morning.

How to photograph the planets.
Capturing a photograph of this gathering of the planets couldn't be easier!
Just about any camera will do, though a camera with a telephoto lense setting will be better. Let the camera's exposure meter be your guide, though a slight underexposure will help bring out the colors of the dawn sky.

Try to place the silhouette of some foreground object to lend depth to the scene. The best pictures will be on the next few mornings, while the crescent moon is part of the grouping.

This article was provided to SPACE.com by Starry Night Education, the leader in space science curriculum solutions.

Meteor Shower Schedule for 2011

In this post and a couple more following, expect me to share with you some of the highlights happening in the sky. I'll also post links for you to view official NASA websites. Most of us probably missed this incredible shower predawn this morning but, I understand the further south you live, with Aquarius higher in the sky the better. Friday night - should show a few stragglers.
CREDIT:RASC Observers Handbook 2011 International Meteor Organization

Meteor Shower: Eta-Aquarid
Best Date: May 6, 2011
Constellation to look towards: Aquarius
ZHR: 60
Originates From: Halley's Comet

There will be several meteor showers after this through the summer, but I did come accross this very interesting article and thought I would share with you.

1999 LEONID Storm as seen from high-altitude aircraft.
CREDIT: Shinsuke Abe and Hajime Yano, ISAS

NASA is assessing the risk to spacecraft posed by the upcoming 2011 Draconid meteor shower, a seven-hour storm of tiny space rocks that has the potential to ding major Earth-orbiting spacecraft like the crewed International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope.

The meteor shower risk assessment is actually more art than science, and there has been some variation in the projected intensity levels of the 2011 Draconids by meteoroid forecasters. But spacecraft operators are already being notified to weigh defensive steps.

Current meteor forecast models project a strong Draconid outburst, possibly a full-blown storm, on Oct. 8, 2011, according to William Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The Draconids do present some risk to spacecraft, Cooke confirmed. They could potentially become the next significant event in low-Earth orbit as far as meteoroids are concerned, he added.

Cooke and Danielle Moser of Stanley, Inc., also of Huntsville, presented their Draconid data at Meteoroids 2010 - an international conference on minor bodies in the solar system held May 24-28 in Breckenridge, Colo. The conference was sponsored in part by NorthWest Research Associates/CoRADivision, NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research.

Less flashy, but risk exists

The yearly Draconids are not known for their bright meteor displays, Cooke said.

Predicted intensity rates for 2011 span an order of magnitude, he added, with maximum Zenithal Hourly Rate, or ZHR, ranging from a few tens to several hundred as viewed by a single observer.

A Marshall Space Flight Center Meteoroid Stream Model based on radar and optical observations of past Draconid showers suggests that the maximum rate will be several hundreds per hour.

So why the worry?

Cooke said that a significant fraction of spacecraft anomalies produced by shower meteoroids are caused by electrostatic discharges when meteoroid meets satellite.

And while no spacecraft electrical problems were reported during the strong Draconid outbursts of 1985 and 1998, he said that the lack of past anomalies should not be taken as carte blanche for satellite operators to ignore in 2011.

The chance of electrical anomalies is low, however, due to the Draconids slow speed, Cooke pointed out.

"We're already working with NASA programs to deal with spacecraft risk," Cooke said. "I imagine when the word gets out there will be a Draconid outburst, I'll get the usual calls from comsat companies as well as government space programs," he told SPACE.com.

Out on the limb

The International Space Station ?is heavily armored against orbital debris.

That being the case, "we don't expect anything to go wrong there," Cooke said.

However, the Draconids will appear above the Earth's limb making it a spectacular looking out-the-windows celestial show for the space station crew.

"I have no concerns about the space station. Even if the Draconids were a full-scale meteor storm I would be confident that the space station program would take the right steps to mitigate the risk," Cooke said.

The most radical step would be to reorient the space station, Cooke said.

"But frankly, given the flux levels, I don't think they are going to have to do that," he added. "But that's their call. I'll give then the flux levels and they'll make the decision."

One measure that space station officials could take, he added, is not to perform spacewalks during the shower.

For the Hubble Space Telescope, if its operators deem the risk high enough, they will point the observatory away from the Draconid radiant ? the point from which the shower appears to emanate.

"Any time you take a mitigation strategy, like changing a spacecraft's attitude or turning off high-voltage, that incurs risk as well," Cooke said.

Caution is key

Each spacecraft is unique, and components have differing damage thresholds, so programs are encouraged to conduct analyses to determine whether or not mitigation strategies are necessary for their vehicles ahead of next year's Draconids.

Cooke said that the spacecraft threat from meteor showers in the past ? particularly the 1998 Leonids ? produced more hype than hypervelocity impacts.

"We really didn't understand what was going on," he added. "Now we have a much better feel. But the Leonids did sensitize spacecraft operators to worry about meteor showers. Perhaps, sometimes, they worry more than they should."

In early 2011, Cooke said that he'll be revising his Draconid prediction ? also making use of data from other forecasters around the globe ? which will be released to spacecraft operators.

"There's also an awful lot of windage in there too," Cooke added. "We're like the weather reporters?our forecast changes?and the general trend is always downward," Cooke said.

Still, caution is the watchword.

"Because we can now forecast them, we have a way of putting it. If you are hit by a sporadic [meteor], it's an act of God. If you are hit by a shower meteoroid, it's an act of negligence," Cooke said.

On Killing Osama bin Laden.....To See - Or Not To See.

On Monday morning, Facebook was already a buzz, hot on the debate of wheather or not to see 'proof' of the killing of Osama bin Laden. Twitter-ers were twittering as fast as their little thumbs would twitt. Within 1 hour, I saw some within my Facebook network absolutely giddy about the death of one of the worlds most notorious terrorists and giving shout-outs and HIP HIP HORRAYS to the US Government and to the military. Other folks started re-posting a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King.
"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkenss cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

In addition, others were saying things like "I can't believe Obama is taking credit for this!" For me, that was the last straw. I had to chime in. Up until that point, I tried to keep political and religious views out of the picture and not use FB as a theater to apostatize those views, but I couldn't take it. First, I had to correct the comment that Obama took all the credit. What he ACTUALLY did was acknowledge that he gave direction, gave credit to the military, to the counterterorism professionals, global allies, President Zardari, to the men who carried out the mission and to the families who lost a loved one(s) on 9/11.

Secondly, on " ...the death of one, not even an enemy statement..", I reminded those folks that if a man broke into their home, bound and gagged their daughter and/OR their wife or sister - raped them - sodomized them - beat them - and made you watch as it all happened, then drug you outside and made you watch as they blew up your home and family...."all in the name of Allah", they might just feel differently. I reminded those folks Osama bin Laden was not a true Muslim. What he was, was truly insane, and used religion as his catalyst, as was other terrorist like Hitler and Stalin; bringing it further in to our own yards - as was Ted Bundy, The Zodiac Killer, Charles Manson, Jim Jones, Guy Ballard, and David Keresh.
My question was this: "Do you want to see pictures of those killers too?" "Have you laid awake at night wondering if they're really dead because you haven't seen a picture of the dead body?

I even addressed the religious part of this: I reminded someone about 2 scriptures from the Bible when they had the AUDACITY to question the killings of world enemies: In the New Testaments, the apostle Paul declares that God empowers governments to punish those who do evil. Civil officials are told to bear the sword as avengers and execute wrath on those who practice wickedness. Romans 13: 1 - 7 and also, First Peter 2: 13 - 14 is in agreement - God ordained government to ensure order in society by punishing evildoers.


I'm reminded that up until as recently as 2004, 80% of Americans thought that the assassination of John F. Kennedy was a cover-up! It wasn't until 1992 that the records were released by the 'President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act" The final report wasn't even released until 1998!!

In addition (just for a little humor here) THOUSANDS of mourners walked right past the casket of Elvis Pressley in 1977; they saw him with their very own eyes....and yet today - there are folks who still think he's alive and living in his Memphis mansion eating hotdogs and doughnuts, sitting in a chair, looking out his window from the top floor.

On the point of Obama taking the credit; this statement was especially disturbing to me because it was made by a person that had served in the military. I had to remind that person that yes - he IS reponsible for the death of Osama bin Laden. He is the Commander-in-Chief of this country. He gave the orders. He was involved in every decision. I KNEW they were fully aware of the military protocol and was flabergasted that they would even say that. I have to admit, I did give a little sting on that note saying George Bush couldn't get it done - but Obama DID. End of story.

Okay now, back to the point of the pictures:
I have a couple of questions for the unbelievers. Why do you want to make Osama bin Laden a martyr? Why do you want to risk the security of the United States of America (where you live) to further terrorist attacks in retaliation to his death? Why do you REALLY want to see the pictures? Is it your morbid curiosity? I tell you my thoughts, even if the government DID show them, you know what those same "Trump-ers" would say? "Looks like they photo-shopped the hell out of it!" In other words....they wouldn't believe it anyway.

John Stewart said "Personally the best reason in my mind for releasing the photos is that we've been fighting this war for nearly 10 years - - thousands of US deaths, tens of thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis have died - and we've seen nearly zero photographic evidence of it." Oh really? Uh - do you watch the news John Stewart? I see pictures and videos of it all the time. Anybody with a computer and the internet has access to endless amounts of it. I've even seen 2 full documentaries on the 'war on terrorism' on the History channel!

I do not believe that it has anything to do with the graphic nature of the photos as to why they shouldn't be seen. We see that kind of thing everyday in movies and television shows - horrible graphics that personally, I think should NOT be seen. I DO believe, that the government has weighed the pros and cons of the release. I do believe that showing the photos would encourage gangs and recruits of Al-Qaeda and would inflame anti-American sentiment like a pep-rally. I believe that the military used face recognition software, took the DNA samples, took the photographs for archives, did probably some sort of autopsy aboard the ship, washed the body, wrapped it, and buried it at sea - oh, why at sea? Obvious.... you would end up with one group robbing the grave to totally tear up the body - the head, whatever, and display it in hate, or set it on fire. You would have another group, who would probably rob the grave, taxidermy the body and keep it as a shrine and inspiration to members of Al-Qaeda.
Perhaps there would be another group, one that would dig up the body and sell the PARTS for profit!! Yes indeed, there are those out there who would do just that.
At sea is fitting.

When I saw the hanging of Saddam Hussein I felt pitty for him. Yes, for a brief moment I had forgotten the thousands he had killed, I forgot the own members of his family he had killed, the THOUSANDS that he killed of his own people with chemical weapons. I forgot that he used to throw people into industrial shredders. I forgot how he allowed his evil sons to rape and kill women, then to feed them to the starving dobermans. .....sympathy and pitty is what I felt. I wish I had never seen the video.

I'm sure this debate about whether or not to see the photos, videos, DNA report or whatever else will go on and on, until the government finally shows them under the pressure. If they do - I'm sure the other side will say he caved in to the pressure and what kind of president is that? Can Obama ever win ? Probably not. As Americans, we've forgotten how to trust in our President. We've lost the 'Stand by your country' and gained 'Always be a pessimist.' Yes, we've fought this war a long, long time. Do I feel the victims of 9/11 have been justified? Yes. I believe in my president. I don't need to see the dead body. I don't want to make Osama a martyr for others to follow in his footsteps. There will always be Osama's out there, he's not the only one we will fight who dares walk into our yard, but I've seen Osama bin Laden's face for 10 years. He's dead. Why do I need to see that face one more time? Nah, I'll pass on that one.

Oh yea....one last thing...
Mr. Trump, and all you "Trumpers" out there. Wanna do something good for this country? Then why don't you shut up. Go do what you do best and rip off a land owner or - better yet - - why don't you get busy and rebuild the twin towers? That should give you something to do. Stop wasting my President's time and this country's. Of ALL the huge world topics and things going on right now - you pick a birth certificate? What a whimpy, petty, thing. ...you remind me of Sarah Palin. .lets face it...that stunt ended your political career.

My President has terrorist to kill - - to keep your ass safe. Don't bother him.