Posted on 08/09/2021 4:32:15 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: What's the best way to watch a meteor shower? This question might come up later this week when the annual Perseid Meteor Shower peaks. One thing that is helpful is a dark sky, as demonstrated in the featured composite image of last year's Perseids. Many more faint meteors are visible on the left image, taken through a very dark sky in Slovakia, than on the right image, taken through a moderately dark sky in the Czech Republic. The band of the Milky Way Galaxy bridges the two coordinated images, while the meteor shower radiant in the constellation of Perseus is clearly visible on the left. In sum, many faint meteors are lost through a bright sky. Light pollution is shrinking areas across our Earth with dark skies, although inexpensive ways to combat this might be implemented.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
It’s global warming.
Need to work on my astro photography...
I might veer off into China's efforts at climate manipulation, but we have a Breaking Astronomy Story to post to the APOD thread!
From SpaceWeather.com;
RARE NAKED-EYE NOVA: Yesterday, a star in the constellation Ophiuchus exploded. Although it is 5000 light years away, the blast is bright enough to see with the unaided eye after sunset. Get the full story with observing tips at @ Spaceweather.com.
RARE NAKED-EYE NOVA: Every 20 years or so, a thermonuclear explosion occurs on the surface of RS Oph, a white dwarf in the constellation Ophiuchus. Yesterday it happened again. On Aug. 8th, the brightness of the tiny star increased 600-fold, from magnitude +12 to +5. Keith Geary of Ireland was the first to notice. Hours later, Italian astronomer Ernesto Guido and colleagues photographed the outburst using a remote-controlled telescope in Australia:
(I know...useless without a star chart! More information the rest of the story and a chart at the link! (No...not very big, but its visible now.)
(Slide back to APOD!)
THAT is a neat shot!
I’ll check it out.
Here is a finder chart
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS_Ophiuchi#/media/File:RSOphLocation.png
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