Stargazers! A look at the Stars

[Divemaster]

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jfox kanang time nga imong gipang-post Local Time na siya or UTC pa?

[rodsky]

Looks like this is UTC...

...I took this snapshot in Starry Night Pro, with POO being Cebu City...the dotted line represents Cebu's southwesterly mountain ranges.
[img width=500 height=399]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/rodsky/moonwatch/cebu_mars_moon_conjunction.jpg[/img]
larger image here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...onjunction.jpg

As you can see, it's not yet even 11:00pm (it's only 10:22pm), and after 11:00pm mag set na man ang moon. At this point Mars is indeed about 0.3 degrees away from the lunar disc, but later on, there was an occultation indeed, but was viewable only in parts of Southwestern Asia, the Middle East, and Europe...

[img width=500 height=299]http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/planets08/0510mars.jpg[/img]

This only goes to show I'm so off as to astro events as of late But I promise to be more vigilant when we start organizing the group.

-RODION

[jfox]

This is from PAGASA

All we need here is a letter...

For residents of the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Legazpi, stargazing and telescoping sessions can also be conducted at the PAGASA regional centers located in their area. One (1) 25-cm telescope in each of the above-mentioned sites are available for use. These telescopes were procured in May 1998 through the Grant-in-aid (GIA) project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which is entitled "Promotion of Astronomy".

[rodsky]

This is from PAGASA

All we need here is a letter...

For residents of the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Legazpi, stargazing and telescoping sessions can also be conducted at the PAGASA regional centers located in their area. One (1) 25-cm telescope in each of the above-mentioned sites are available for use. These telescopes were procured in May 1998 through the Grant-in-aid (GIA) project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which is entitled "Promotion of Astronomy".

Interesting. Will look into this, thanks!

-RODION

[jfox]

PAGASA Astronomical Diary
May 2008

On May 15, at 1:00 AM, Jupiter will be seen at about 34 degrees from the east southeastern horizon. The Planet will be shining at magnitude -2.5 and will lie among the stars of the constellation Sagittarius, the Archer. Viewed from a telescope Jupiter will be at 45 seconds of an arc in diameter with the Equatorial Belts that run along either side of its equator. At 3:00 AM, Neptune and Uranus will be found 17 and 37 degrees above the east southeastern horizon and will be shining at magnitude 7.9 and +5.9, respectively. At around 7:00 PM, Mercury will be located 12 degrees above the west northwestern horizon and will be shining at magnitude +0.4. It will lie among the background stars of the constellation, Taurus the Bull. At 10:00 PM, Mars, the Dwarf Planet, Pluto and Saturn, will be found 15, 18, and 40 degrees above the west northwestern horizon and will be glowing at magnitude +1.4, +13.9, and +0.6, respectively

Venus will be too close to the Sun for observation during the month.

The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which is derived from dust released by comet 1P/Hallwey during its countless voyages through the solar system, will produce about 5 to 10 meteors per hour at the pre-dawn sky of May 5 or May 6. The radiant of the meteor shower will originate from the constellation Aquarius, the Water-Bearer which can be found in the east southeast direction.

DATE          EVENT                                                              TIME (LST) 
3            Saturn stationary                                                      9:00 PM

6            Moon at perigee  (nearest distance from Moon)          11:00 AM

9            Jupiter Stationary                                                    11:00 PM

10          Mars 0.2º South of the Moon (Occultation)                10:00 PM

13          Regulus 1.2º South of the Moon (Occultation)              3:00 AM

14          Mercury greatest elongation E(22&#186                          12:00 PM

20          Moon at apogee  (farthest distance from Moon)          10:00 PM

24          Jupiter 2º North of the Moon                                    7:00 PM

27          Mercury stationary                                                    5:00 AM

27          Neptune stationary                                                  6:00 AM


          http://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/agssb/...b/skymonth.htm

[Divemaster]

this is really getting more interesting, when is the next meeting set? just arrived from manila last night and hoped that i'm not too late.

[Anajayjay]

i wanna join too. Went to Mt Manunggal 2 weeks ago and wow the constellations were almost complete....
Please include me in your group

[rodsky]

this is really getting more interesting, when is the next meeting set? just arrived from manila last night and hoped that i'm not too late.

This coming Saturday night was the last agreed date/time, pero as to the venue, that hasn't been finalized I think.

-RODION

[Divemaster]

i wanna join too. Went to Mt Manunggal 2 weeks ago and wow the constellations were almost complete....
Please include me in your group

sure you can, it will be great to know more people with the same interest.

@rodsky: thanks, that would be tomorrow night then, hopefully we can do some stargazing too....

[mjdianne]

wow... daghan na ta! im gonna have 2-4 pipol wd me tomoro. can we start early like 2 or 3 or 4pm lang para sayo ta uli,probably 9pm? depends too if okay ang skies. so the venue..somewhere mactan lang facing away the city probably?