Delta Aquarids

This year’s Delta Aquarid meteor shower is building toward its peak on the 29th/30th July.

The Southern Delta Aquarids are a meteor shower visible from mid July to mid August each year with peak activity on or around 29th July. The shower originated from the breakup of what are now the Marsden and Kracht Sungrazing comets. Their name is due to the shower radiant being located near the star Delta Aquarius.

The Delta Aquarids are best viewed in the pre-dawn hours, away from the glow of street-lights. The radiant is above the southern horizon for us Northern Hemisphere viewers and so the meteors tend to fan out in all compass points – east, north and west.

Detailed observing information and history can be found here.

Comet Christensen C/2006 W3

Image (c) Michael Jager

Comet Christensen C/2006 W3 is a bright telescopic, or even binocular, object which is visible almost all night. It looks to be continuing to brighten yet is a long way out – over 2 AU from Earth and over 3 AU from the Sun.

It appears to have brightened to around magnitude 9 this week, with observations of a bright core and coma that looks rather like a mini-version of Comet Holmes from a few while back. (source: James Abbott)

For more details on the comet, visit the following links:

http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/06w3.uk

http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2006W3/2006W3.html

Nightskyhunter

Heavens Above

Black Spot Shows New Jupiter Impact?

UPDATE:  Transit times for the scar can be found here. Note that they are in UT, so add one hour for BST.

On the 19th July, an astronomer in Australia photographed a fresh dark “scar” in the cloudtops of Jupiter.

Image by Anthony Wesley from Murrumbateman, Australia. The black spot is at the top of this image.

The feature resembles the those from the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts of 1994.  It is possible that Jupiter has again been struck by an asteroid or comet.  Astronomers and astrophotographers around the world are now slewing their scopes onto Jupiter to confirm what happened and monitor the evolution of the scar.

July ISS Viewing Times

The International Space Station is again visible over UK skies. It is now very bright and easy to spot, but you do have to know when and where to look.

Current ISS viewing times for Essex are available here.

At the moment you can also see the Progress 33 supply craft following 30 seconds behind the ISS. If the Space Shuttle launches successful this weekend, there may be chances to see that pass over too.

July Public Meeting – Apollo Missions – 15th July

This months public meeting takes place on Wednesday 15th July and will feature a talk about the Apollo Lunar Missions by Jerry Workman.

The meeting that will be held at the Henry Dixon Hall, Rivenhall End, Witham, CM8 3HD. The doors open at 7:30 pm with the talk getting underway at ~8pm. Entry costs £3. Free tea & coffee will be available.