Current Solar X-rays: Current Geomagnetic Field: |
Current Moon Phase |
May 25, 2013: about 3 power--Venus (lowest), Jupiter (left), Mercury (right) All planets were easily visible to the unaided eye. Excellent transparency... Gary A. Becker image... |
June 4, 2013: about 3 power--Venus (near horizon), Mercury (above and left of Venus in the clouds)... Mercury became easily visible to the unaided eye after it dropped below the clouds in the darkening sky. Gary A. Becker image... |
June 5, 2013: about 2 power--Venus (near horizon), Mercury (above and left of Venus)... Mercury was difficult to view with the unaided eye. Gary A. Becker image... |
June 11, 2013, 21:30 EDT: Red clouds at twilight may seem beautiful, but these ruby billows are being created by light pollution from Coopersburg, PA. Note, however, the transparency of the sky! Little of the sodium vapor glow seems to be affecting the heavens. Mercury peaks sheepishly between the clouds, center right, while the three day old moon puts on a grand show of earthshine to the left of the image. At the top of the picture, gleams Caster (right) and Pollux of the Gemini Twins. A canon 60DSLR was equatorially driven for this six second exposure taken at F/4.5, ASA 400 with a Canon 24-70mm lens at an EFL of 80mm. The color temperature of the sensor was set to 4500K to decrease the effects of light pollution. Gary A. Becker photography... |
Spica of Virgo the Virgin or as I like to call it, the "Lizard Lady" and Saturn dominate the 10 p.m. southwest during early to mid-summer. By late August they will be lost in evening twilight. Gary A. Becker map using Software Bisque's, The Sky… |
Perigee Full Moon: This is an image of the closest full moon to the Earth in 2013. It was taken late on the evening of June 23 at 11:53 p.m., EDT. The distance of the moon at its true 7 a.m. perigee position was 221,800 miles. By 11:53 p.m., it had moved about 1720 miles farther away. An equatorially mounted Canon 60D camera was attached at prime focus to a 3.5 inch Questar Maksutov Cassegrainian reflector. An Astronomik clip UV-IR-Block filter was used to enhance detail. The exposure was 1/320 sec., ASA 400, at F/14.4, EFL of 2048mm. Gary A. Becker image taken from Coopersburg, PA... |
The seasons on Earth are not a function of the distance that Earth is from the sun, but rather the varying amounts of energy which are received from the sun due to the Earth’s axial tilt. Since flashlight beams are not precisely parallel like in the above illustration, keep the flashlight about the same distance from the wall or the ground to illustrate the outcome of changing angles more truthfully. Gary A. Becker slide... |