Astronomy & Outer Space

Dreamtime, I believe that applies to politicians too

Pollution. Mike Collins, Apollo astronaut in 2007, said in an interview that the overriding sensation he got when looking back at the Earth was “My God, that little planet Earth looks so fragile out there, surely that must be defended as a holy relic”. Nothing has changed, in fact it’s got a lot worse. Earth's pollution has risen tenfold since then, and still rising.

Jupiter & Saturn conjunction, visible in the south west.

With clear evening skies forecast for Thursday & Friday, quite a spectacular sight in the south west just after sunset.

Amazing. They seem so close. An illusion - the BBC said yesterday they are still 400 million miles apart!

Jupiter has moved on. Different camera setting, Jupiter's moons clearer. Edited by member, 24th Dec 2020 6:41 pm

These are outstanding pictures. I love them. Thank you. I loved plotting the planet positions on a map table, from the data in Whitaker’s Almanac years ago. To see them literally become stationary in the sky, then appear to go backwards. Posting the position of the sun & moon, the moon as a pointer, whereas the sun showed If they could be seen at sunset or sunrise. I loved those days.

The track of the planets, sun & moon in the sky, 24/7.

The sine-wave line in the above diagram shows the path centre of all the planets, the sun & moon. The exact position can vary a few degrees north or south. The planets, sun & moon are not exactly in the same plane. Obtaining the position data, I then used Alma pieces, with the planets names on, along with a model sun & moon. My chart at home was coloured, heavily varnished so withstood years of use as I positioned all of the moving items, including extras like comets & predicted meteor showers. Friends thought I was nuts! Just as an example, without any precise data, we can post the position of the sun now. It's at the bottom of the trough, near the RA 18, which is exactly where it was on Dec 21. The sun takes a year to travel all the way round, whereas the moon is formula 1, racing around every four weeks. Pluto is in an old slow coach, taking 240 years to travel around, so has only moved a third of the way around since I was plotting in 1958, when I started my hobby. What makes it all the more fascinating, is that we on planet Earth are moving as well. So depending where we are in our orbit, dictates what direction everything is going in. It's not like a horse race, all moving together. Suggest you all have a sip of brandy.

Hi Philip, you probably know you can do that now on an app, geo or helio centric, a free app too. Using either an astronomy or astrology app. Science at your fingertips.

Hi Heathite, Yes. In fact, there is sufficient info in the online native that I use. My delight just now is reflecting in conversation with you my memories. Back when I was eleven, I must have appeared to folk as the mad scientist, with my charts. At a meal in the dining room, then announcing to show off, that Jupiter needs moving along. What a fluff! Best wishes to you.