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Daily Suspicious0bserver's Weather Post:
August 18, 2014

What's in the sky tonight?
August 18, 2014

-Look northeast as soon as the stars come out for W-shaped Cassiopeia. In twilight it's not quite as high as the Big Dipper is in the northwest, but right after dark, Cassiopeia and the Dipper reach their balance point. Summer is nearing its end.

-NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on August 18th when a faint CME is expected to strike Earth's magnetic field head-on. This is not a major event. Nevertheless, high-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the CME arrives.

-This morning Venus and Jupiter converged in the pre-dawn sky for a spectacular conjunction. At closest aproach they were barely 0.2o apart. Didier Van Hellemont sends this picture from Les Estables, France. "I photographed Venus and Jupiter from Mount Mezenc, one of the higher points of the Auvergne region in France," says Van Hellemont. "The sky was so clear and beautiful. It was definitely worth the early wake-up call."

The planets are separating now, but not too quickly. They will still be a beautiful pair for the rest of the week. A date of special interest is August 23rd when the crescent Moon joins the planets to form a bright celestial triangle in the eastern pre-dawn sky.

Observing tips: Go outside 30 minutes before sunrise and look north-northeast. No telescope is required. Jupiter and Venus are bright enough to see with the naked eye even from light polluted cities. Try following the bright pair after the dawn sky begins to brighten. A tight conjunction of Venus and Jupiter framed by twilight blue is a great way to start the day.

Astro Picture of the Day:
August 18, 2014

Source:
Both land and sky were restless. The unsettled land included erupting Mount Semeru in the distance, the caldera of steaming Mount Bromo on the left, flowing fog, and the lights of moving cars along roads that thread between hills and volcanoes in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java, Indonesia. The stirring sky included stars circling the South Celestial Pole and a meteor streaking across the image right. The above 270-image composite was taken from King Kong Hill in mid-June over two hours, with a rising Moon lighting the landscape.




My images of the Venus - Jupiter conjunction from this morning: