Daily Suspicious0bserver's Weather Post:
October 4, 2014
What's in the sky tonight?
October 4, 2014
-The W pattern of Cassiopeia stands vertically (on its dimmer end) high in the northeast around 10 or 11 p.m., depending on your location. By then the Big Dipper is lying level just above the north-northwest horizon — if you live in the mid-northern latitudes. As far south as San Diego and Jacksonville, the Dipper will lie partly below the horizon.
-Mark your calendar. On Wednesday morning, Oct. 8th, observers across the Pacific side of Earth will see the Moon turn a beautiful shade of red as it passes through the sunset-colored shadow of our planet. Totality begins at 10:25 UT (3:25 a.m. PDT) and lasts for nearly an hour. Don't miss it! Details:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/...2014Oct08T.pdf
-The Moon is waxing full. That means now is a good time to look for lunar coronas. Lauri Kangas photographed this specimen over Fort Frances, Ontario, on October 2nd. Lunar coronas are made of moonlight diffracted by tiny droplets of water in the air. Sometimes the droplets are supplied by passing clouds. This time, however, they came in the form of fog.
"Late in that evening the temperature dropped rapidly and a ground fog developed," says Kangas. "I could see the tiny water droplets with my flashlight. These water droplets formed a beautiful corona around the Moon. To the naked eye the blue colored ring was awesome."
Rings around the Moon also form when ice crystals drift by, but those are ice halos, and they have a different appearance.
Astro Picture of the Day:
October 4, 2014
Source:
Mars, Antares, Moon, and Saturn are the brightest celestial beacons in this serene sky. The Sun's golden light is still scattered along the southwestern horizon though, captured after sunset on September 28. The evening gathering of wandering planets and Moon along with the bright star viewed as an equal to Mars and the Scorpion's Heart was enjoyed around planet Earth. But from the photographer's perspective looking across the calm waters of Lake Balaton, Hungary, they were joined by a more terrestrial sailboat mast light. Mast light, bright star, planets and Moon are all posing near the plane of the ecliptic.