Nasa pictures from 13 billion years ago
You may have heard on the news yesterday squeezed in between, the apocalyptic menace of Swine fever and the unacceptable behaviour of the home secretaries husband, that a Nasa Space Telescope, Spitzer, managed to capture a few photons that began their journey 13 billion years ago, very near the beginning of time and space for that mater, that doesn’t mean they know what they’ve photographed though. I’ve put the picture on the blog. To a casual observer it could be the psychedelic creation of a mischievous puppy that has dipped its paws in paint. But it may be one of the most extraordinary pictures ever snapped. One possibility is stars, the first to light up after the dawn of time. They would have been "humungous", said NASA, "more than 1000 times the mass of our sun".
But let’s get back to what we can see, tonight, the Moon shines in the middle of Gemini this evening: below Pollux and Castor, which are lined up almost horizontally. So if you want to find Gemini and the twins tonight’s the night
The Moon which is waxing again shines under Regulus on May 2nd and Saturn on May 3rd.
Mercury is still there low in evening twilight, but starts to fades rapidly this week. Look for it low in the west-northwest about an hour after sunset. As the sky gets darker, the Pleiades glimmer into view very near it. The Pleiades are above Mercury early in the week, and to the right of it by May 1st and 2nd, again take a look at the blog.
Venus shines low in the east during dawn. Don't confuse it with Jupiter, higher and far to the right in the southeast. In a telescope, Venus is a thickening, shrinking crescent.
Mars remains about 5° from Venus all week. It's below Venus early in the week, and lower left of it toward the week's end, but definitely not worth getting up early for
Jupiter still with Venus and Mars shines in the southeast before and during dawn.
Saturn is far away the most social able of the planets is high in the south during evening. In a telescope, Saturn's rings appear 4° from edge on, their widest for the year.
I had a comment on the blog last week, from Boston Mass, asking a question, which was heartening, because unlike you lot Americans don’t know that I haven’t got the faintest idea what I’m talking about.
But let’s get back to what we can see, tonight, the Moon shines in the middle of Gemini this evening: below Pollux and Castor, which are lined up almost horizontally. So if you want to find Gemini and the twins tonight’s the night
The Moon which is waxing again shines under Regulus on May 2nd and Saturn on May 3rd.
Mercury is still there low in evening twilight, but starts to fades rapidly this week. Look for it low in the west-northwest about an hour after sunset. As the sky gets darker, the Pleiades glimmer into view very near it. The Pleiades are above Mercury early in the week, and to the right of it by May 1st and 2nd, again take a look at the blog.
Venus shines low in the east during dawn. Don't confuse it with Jupiter, higher and far to the right in the southeast. In a telescope, Venus is a thickening, shrinking crescent.
Mars remains about 5° from Venus all week. It's below Venus early in the week, and lower left of it toward the week's end, but definitely not worth getting up early for
Jupiter still with Venus and Mars shines in the southeast before and during dawn.
Saturn is far away the most social able of the planets is high in the south during evening. In a telescope, Saturn's rings appear 4° from edge on, their widest for the year.
I had a comment on the blog last week, from Boston Mass, asking a question, which was heartening, because unlike you lot Americans don’t know that I haven’t got the faintest idea what I’m talking about.
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