Venus Shines Bright

The planet Venus will be the brightest object in evening sky on Valentine's Day. Kinda neat since in Roman mythology, Venus was the goddess of love, sex, beauty and fertility. How fitting.

Venus’s greatest evening elongation in 2025 from the Northern Hemisphere
as viewed through a powerful telescope. The planets are exaggerated 600 times in size.
Chart via Guy Ottewell’s 2025 Astronomical Calendar.

Venus reaches its greatest brilliancy for 2025 on February 14, where it is the evening star. You can't miss Venus! It outshines all other objects in our sky, except for the sun and moon. Look for it in the western sky just after sunset. In fact, it is so bright that you could probably see it before the sun sets if you know just where to look. And with small telescopes, it is visible in the daytime.

Check out EarthSky for more details about Venus, why it is so bright and why it appears sometime in the east and sometimes in the west but never all night long.

Soldier's Delight Star Party - this Saturday - Feb 15, 2025 - 6:30pm

Soldiers Delight Star Party - February 15, 2025

I am back from the frozen north of Norway, in search of the Northern Lights. Turns out it wasn't actually frozen at all! I'll explain during the session this coming Saturday. 

So come on out and join us for an exciting discussion of Gravity, Black Holes and what's up in the winter sky.

"Gravity and Black Holes"

Tonight, we delve into one of the most intriguing and enigmatic phenomena in the universe: black holes and the force of gravity that governs them. Black holes, with their immense gravitational pull, challenge our understanding of physics and the very fabric of space-time. These cosmic giants, formed from the remnants of massive stars, possess gravitational fields so strong that not even light can escape their grasp. Our discussion will explore the formation of black holes, the role of gravity in their behavior, and the profound implications they have for our understanding of the universe. Join me as we journey into the depths of these mysterious entities and uncover the secrets they hold about the nature of gravity and the cosmos.

All programs rain or shine. Time machines will be provided by the Westminster Astronomy Club.

Activity: Gravity Simulator: Explore Black Holes and Gravity

You can find out about special local events by contacting us at https://www.westminsterastro.org/

Date: Saturday, February 15, 2025

Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Eastern

Location: Soldiers Delight Environmental Area

5100 Deer Park Rd.

Owings Mills, MD 21117

Comet G3 may be disintegrating

As reported on EarthSky, new reports suggest that bright comet ATLAS G3 – which has been wowing observers this past week (at least in the southern hemisphere and the lower US) – may be disintegrating.

Comets are known to undergo an “outburst,” or rapid increase in brightness, before starting to disintegrate. And observers reported on the evening of January 19 that Comet ATLAS had suddenly become much brighter. 

The images below show the nucleus dimming and loosing definition.

Astrophotographer Lionel Majzik captured these images of comet ATLAS G3 from Rio Hurtado, Chile, between January 18 and 20. 

For the complete story see EarthSky.

Day 12 - Bergen

The day was dark and cloudy and actually quite cold. Light rain and drizzle continued all day. We had booked a bus tour of the city of Bergen, but based on it's departure time of 5:00pm we decided to just stay in our stateroom. It was just too much to get out in the dark with that weather and there was some outside walking. So we enjoyed a good dinner and rested - after all, we needed to be up and ready to leave for the airport at 3:00am!

I snapped a few pics of the city from our ship docked in Skoltegrunnskaien (Bryggen, the Wharf), a port located in the heart of Fjord Norway. 

Oh, I forgot to mention this on yesterday's blog:
I had a nice conversation with Captain Rune Loekling, who has been sailing with Viking for 10 years. We discussed the new ship (Vela) and his time with Viking and the topic of the storm came up during the conversation. When I mentioned it was kind of neat to be able to tell my friends that I was in a class 2 hurricane, he politely corrected me. Turns out it was a class 3 storm, with winds that actually reached 170 mph and sea swells of 80 ft. Yikes. No wonder we were tossed about. I asked him if he had been in similar storms and he said yes, a few, as the North and Norwegian Seas are notorious for these kinds of storms.

And the evidence of the storm's effect on the Vela were obvious today, as we saw a number of contractor crews out and about repairing stateroom closets, many areas around the pool, hallways, restaurants and just about everywhere you looked. Most damage was minor with some moderate damage requiring replacement of whole pieces of furniture and shelving areas. Lots of kitchen dishes needed to be replaced. One of the crew mentioned to me that there were even some dents in the ship's hull that will need repairing when the ship is between cruises.

So there - I can claim to have been at sea in a class 3 storm 😎. It was exciting, but I don't think I would like to do it again. Did we enjoy our cruise even considering the storm and the fact that we didn't get to our big excursions out in Tromsø and Alta? Yes. And, almost forgot, finally got to see the Northern Lights; at least a small display. But it was better than nothing, and I won't have to tell my friends that I went all the way to Norway and didn't see the Northern Lights😄. 

And just before we retired for the evening, we got a letter from Viking informing us that we would be getting a voucher for a future cruise valued at 100% of our current expenditure - essentially, a free cruise!

Northern Lights as seen from the observation deck of the ship
Sunday, Jan 19.

Day 11 - Viking Cruise - Stavanger, Norway

Today we visited Stavanger, a city set on Norway's southwest coast. Stavanger boasts a rich history dating back to the last ice age. Known as one of Europe's most interesting old towns, Gamle Stavanger's cobblestone streets are adorned with a collection of wooden buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries. 

We hadn't booked any excursions for this day, but decided, the last minute to do the Fjord Foray by RIB at midday. According to Wikipedia a rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are inflated with air to a high pressure so as to give the sides resilient rigidity along the boat's topsides. The design is stable, light, fast and seaworthy. The inflated collar acts as a life jacket, ensuring that the vessel retains its buoyancy, even if the boat is taking on water.

We had taken a similar ride on an RIB when we cruised to Iceland this past summer. However, this foray was quite a different story. With temperatures in the low 30s and the boat speed pretty high the wind chill was quite intense. And where did we have our heated gloves and socks? On the ship of course - poor planning!

Here are a few pics of the town, followed by the awesome, close-up beauty of the fjords as seen by RIB. I didn't get any pics of the actual town by foot as we were so cold from our return from the RIB ride.

Note the Burger King and 7-Eleven

Joan and I got to sit in the front of the boat (more exciting), while the other passengers enjoyed the wind break we provided 😏.

"Pulpit Rock"

And we really did get close to the edges of these mountains.

Day 10 - Eidfjord

Our stay in Eidfjord was enjoyable - seeing some very interesting landscapes - and viewed a wonderful panoramic film in the Hardangervidda Natursenter; a museum and visitor center at Hardangervidda National Park in Vestland county, Norway. 

What!! Is that what I think it is - sunlight on the mountain?

The Voringsfoss Hotel. Situated completely on the edge of the water by the deep
blue Hardangerfjorden The hotel has been running since 1889. 

Venus over the mountains in Eidfyord

Day 9 - At Sea off the coast of Bergen

Our voyage continues south toward Eidfyord Norway - as we embark with another delayed start as the sea continues to be a little rough. The winds finally did die down, but the water still exhibited some high waves. Here is a photo of the coastline near Bergen (I had a video, but I can't seem to upload it at this time).

Day 7 - Viking Cruise to Norway

Thursday, Jan 16 ... the weather did not get any better. The open sea continued with winds in excess of 80-90 mph and waves up to 50 ft high. Our captain decided it was much too dangerous to leave port and so we stay at Ålesund. 

However, we were able to get a mini-cruise into the Norwegian fjords. Here are some photos from that excursion into Hjørundfjord which cuts about 22 miles inland between the jagged Sunnmøre Alps. Small idyllic villages lie dotted along the fjord.

 

And a view of our ship, the Viking Vela, on our return.

Commercial Flights to the Moon

Firefly’s Blue Ghost and iSpace’s second Hakuto R mission are now on their way to the moon.

Both spacecrafts were lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on January 15, 2025, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 and are doing well. 

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Lander is named after a species of firefly found in the U.S. Appalachians. The mission includes 10 payloads as part of the NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Service program, which is also part of the Artemis initiative. Blue Ghost is planned to land in the Mare Crisium near Mons Latreille on the Moon’s nearside sometime in early March. 

An artist's conception of the Blue Ghost lander on the Moon
Firefly Aerospace

iSpace’s second Hakuto R, named Resilience, is due to land at Mare Frigoris sometime in the May to June time frame. The first Hakuto R lander failed in 2023, crashing at the Atlas Crater site, but it was nevertheless notable for returning an image of a solar eclipse from lunar orbit as the Moon's shadow passed over Earth's surface.

For more detailed information on these missions see Sky & Telescope 

SpaceX Starship Flight 7: Highs and Lows

SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket for the seventh time ever today (Jan. 16). The launch was beautiful (as usual for these Super Heavy rockets).

SpaceX's seventh Starship megarocket launches on a test flight on Jan. 16, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

One of the goals of this test flight was to catch Starship's giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, back at Starbase's launch tower, using the structure's "chopstick" arms, which was accomplished back in October of last year for the first time during flight #5. SpaceX succeeded in doing so once again (see video at MSN).

But approximately eight minutes into the flight, SpaceX lost contact with the Starship upper stage, known as Ship and it went out with a bang. Preliminary analysis has indicated that some sort of pressure build up in the craft caused the explosion (video).

Blue Origin finally joins the Space Race

Jeff Bezos must be proud today as New Glenn launched for the first time ever this morning (Jan. 16). It launched off a brand new pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida's Space Coast at 2:03 a.m. EST. 

Blue Origin launches its first New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
 on Jan. 16, 2025. (Image credit: Miguel J. Rodríguez Carrillo/Getty Images)

About 12.5 minutes later, the rocket's upper stage reached orbit — the main goal of today's test flight, which the company called NG-1. Unfortunately, the booster, which was expected to return for a landing on a barge, did not return.

See the full details of the launch at Space.com

 

Comet Atlas rounds the sun

Comet ATLAS G3 in the sunset’s glow

Comet ATLAS G3 has successfully made its trip around the sun and is now visible just after sunset until about January 20 for those in the Northern Hemisphere. Southern Hemisphere observers will have the best views. For those of us in the north, things are a little more difficult. During this time the comet will be placed very close to the sun; within 5 degrees of the sun from our point of view (that’s about three fingers width held at arm’s length). ATLAS will stay relatively close to the sun (from our point of view) for a couple days on either side of perihelion. See Earth Sky for details on the orbital approach to the sun.

Steven Bellavia in Smithfield, Virginia, caught Comet ATLAS G3 on January 15, 2025.

Although ATLAS is very bright it will be sinking to the south as it exits the sun’s vicinity and so for those of us at 40 degrees north latitude ATLAS will be difficult to see. But, if ATLAS develops a long tail, we might be able to see just the tail after sunset even though the head of the comet may be below the horizon. Back in 2007 Comet McNaught provided this very view.

Since I'm still on a cruise ship in Norway I doubt I'll be able to capture this comet.

Day 6 - Changed Itinerary

Well, it looks like the cruise to Tromsø and Alta won't happen. The ship needs to remain in Alesund while inspections are underway to verify the integrity of the ship to make sure there isn't any structural damage. Too bad; no sled rides with the huskies or reindeer sleigh rides. But Viking is doing everything they can to make our voyage as enjoyable as possible and they are providing a 60% voucher for a future cruise (which we will take advantage of!). The changed itinerary now includes stops at Flåm, Eidfjord and Stravanger before returning to Bergen.

As for the Northern Lights (this is an Astronomy and Space blog after all) - the weather is simply not cooperating, and neither is the sun for that matter (low KP index). Rain and clouds expected for the next few days. 

Here are a few more photos of Ålesund from our ship.

Day 5 - Ålesund Norway

We docked in Ålesund late last night. After breakfast we headed out to tour the city via tour bus. The only group available was the early tour which started at 8:30, and of course it was still dark at that time. The tour was to run about 90 minutes, so we would get back to the ship when the sun was just rising. It was raining and there was some wind, but the tour was actually quite enjoyable as we got to see the town lit with the seasonal lights and by 9:00 am it was dusky and easy to see the historic sites. Getting pictures with my SLR was hard, so I used the trusty iPhone.

Mountains between the Fjords

The city's art nouveau architecture appeared after a fire destroyed much of the city in 1904. Over 850 houses burned down. Near the place where the fire stopped spreading was a house that was untouched. It is the white house at the top of the hill in the picture below (with the white flagpole on the left of the house). More than 50 architects and builders designed the new city, which spreads across several islands, in the art nouveau style that still graces Ålesund today.

The municipality of Ålesund occupies seven of the large outer islands in the county of Møre og Romsdal: Hessa, Aspøya, Nørvøya, Oksenøya, Ellingsøya, Humla, and Tørla. The town centre is located on the islands Aspøya and Nørvøya, while Hessa and Oksenøya contain residential areas. There are also many other smaller surrounding islands.

The second largest island, Ellingsøya, used to be accessible only by boat or by road via Skodje Municipality, but the undersea Ellingsøy Tunnel was built in 1987 to make traveling between the island and the town center more convenient. The tunnel is 3,481 meters (11,421 ft) long and was upgraded in 2009. Our tour guide lives in Ellingsøya and she mentioned that her daily commute from her home to her place of work was reduced to 5 minutes from the one hour prior to the tunnel opening.

Our next stop is Tromsø, but another north sea storm may impact our plans.

Day 4 - Storm at Sea

We had an unscheduled 'entertainment' activity last evening (actually, early morning of the 13th).  The ship ran into a fairly large wind storm at about 1:00 AM. With winds of 65-85 mph and gusts of over 100 mph, the sea churned with swells of 50+ feet!! Not surprisingly the brand-new Viking Vela (this is only the 2nd voyage since it was delivered to Viking from the Fincantieri S.p.A., Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy) was listing and rocking quite violently. Most everything in our cabin was tossed around and lots of the furniture, bar equipment, liquor bottles, dining room tableware, books on shelves in the atrium, and just about anything else not attached to the walls or floor in the public areas went flying throughout the ship. Our closet doors were damaged as they swung uncontrollably back and forth on their sliders, but other than that, everything else seems to be fine.

Captain Rune Loekling had to turn the ship into the wind to minimize the rocking and swaying and because of that we started heading west and southwest, opposite the direction we should be sailing. Finally, at about 2:00 pm the winds died down a bit (to only 45-55 mph) and the swells got
smaller (20-30 ft).

Captain Rune decided it was best to anchor at Ålesund (at least I think that is where we are headed) with the assistance of two tug boats. This means our second port-of-call, Narvik (#3 on the map), will not be made and so our excursion to Katterat Station was cancelled. 

The captain and cruise director tell us that we can finally leave out staterooms by 5:30-6:00 this evening for dinner service at the various restaurants (we were served breakfast and lunch in our rooms).

Here's to better conditions tomorrow - although another, smaller storm will hit us while anchored in Ålesund. Hey - all this extra entertainment is a bonus, right?

Soldiers Delight Star Party - This Saturday, Jan 18!

Soldiers Delight Star Party - January 18, 2025

Come out and join us for an exciting discussion of what's up in the winter sky. As I am currently on a cruise ship sailing up the Norway coast in search of the Northern Lights, I will not be your host for this session. Our WASI president, Skip, will entertain you!

ORION BATTLES JUPITER FOR CUSTODY OF THE TWINS!

Join us for an epic battle of the Titians as we start the New Year. See Jupiter the king of the planets go toe to toe with Orion the King of Deep sky wonders in a battle to see who will get custody of the twins (Gemini), While Venus and Saturn watch nearby and Mars eggs them both on. 

Make a comet to see where meteor showers come from and one lucky person will win a genuine meteorite.

You can find out about special local events by contacting us at https://www.westminsterastro.org/.

All programs rain or shine. Time machines will be provided by the Westminster Astronomy Club.

Activity: Making a Comet.

Date: Saturday, January 18, 2025

Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Eastern

Location: Soldiers Delight Environmental Area

5100 Deer Park Rd.

Owings Mills, MD 21117