Night Sky Photography -- 05-29-2022 -- Jupiter & Mars Conjunction

Good morning everyone!

In the early morning hours of Monday, May 29th I was able to capture a good pair of close-up shots of the planets Mars and Jupiter in close conjunction where they appear separated by about the width of a full moon, or about 0.5 degrees apart in the night sky.

In the second shot, a close-up of the conjunction, I captured Mars and Jupiter along with at least three of the planets four largest moons which appear as little white dots.

Jupiter, the 5th planet from the Sun, is the largest gas giant planet in our Solar System at about 43,441 miles across and the third brightest natural object in the Earth's night sky after the Moon and the planet Venus. Mars, the 4th planet from the Sun and our Earth's nearest planetary neighbor, is about 2,106 miles across.

These two planets are neighboring worlds and although they appear to be close to each other as seen here from Earth, the two planets are in fact currently separated by about 350 million miles and the asteroid belt that we cannot see with the naked eye.

As this month comes to a close over the next few days, Mars will seem to be moving higher up in the sky away from Jupiter in the eastern sky. About the middle of June 2022, the smallest and nearest planet to the Sun, Mercury, will appear above the horizon ahead of the sunrise and there will be an opportunity to see all five of the "Wandering Stars" (the planets of the Solar System visible to the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) in the early morning hours in a line across the sky.

Happy 45th Anniversary Of Star Wars -- In Loving Memory

On Wednesday, May 25, 1977 -- 45 years ago today -- the film Star Wars (later renamed Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) directed by George Lucas premiered initially in less than 40 movie theaters across the country, and later became a global cinematic and popular culture phenomenon that inspired one of the greatest geek culture franchises in modern history.

From those Gen-Xers (late 70s and 80s kids) like myself who grew up knowing this franchise and were heavily inspired by it to those actors who are no longer with us, but continue to inspire many of us to pursue our dreams and stimulate our imaginations -- thank you for 45 years of memories!

Peter Cushing (1913 - 1994)
Alec Guinness (1914 - 2000)
Carrie Fisher (1956 - 2016)
Kenny Baker (1934 - 2016)
Peter Mayhew (1944 -2019)
David Prowse (1935 - 2020)

May The Force Be With You, Always!

Night Sky Photography -- 05-17-2022 -- The Big Dipper & Arcturus Overhead

Salutations fellow stargazers!

This evening I was able to capture a really good shot of the bright stars of the Big Dipper asterism of the Constellation Ursa Major in the evening sky overhead just above the treetops, along with the neighboring bright star Arcturus.

The shot came out really well, even picking up both the double stars Mizar and its fainter companion star, Alcor, in the middle of the Big Dipper's handle making this star pair very easy to locate.

In actuality Mizar is really four stars, and Alcor is two stars, but appear as two binary stars to the naked eye, or with a really good pair of binoculars. In my case with my trusty Sony DSC-H300 digital camera with 35X Optical Zoom Lens mounted on a tripod in my backyard.

Following a line from the tip of the dipper's handle you will easily find the bright orange giant star, Arcturus -- the brightest star in the Constellation Bootes the Herdsman and the fourth brightest star in the night sky as seen from Earth's surface.

The name Arcturus is derived from the Greek star name arktoyros meaning "the Guard". This star is known in skylore as the Bear Guard for its close proximity to Ursa Major and its about 37 light-years in distance from the Sun.

 Have a wonderful evening, y'all!

Night Sky Photography -- 05-16-2022 -- Full Flower Supermoon & Supermoons Of 2022

Good evening fellow stargazers!

The evening after Sunday's Full Supermoon Lunar Eclipse I was able to capture a glorious shot of the Full Flower Supermoon -- the first of four Full Supermoons throughout the summer months this year -- just over the treetops in the eastern sky.

The moon is completely full and all the dark "seas" that make up the visible features of the Man On The Moon can be easily seen with the tree branches in foreground. Tycho Crater, the largest crater visible to the Earth on the Moon's surface is clearly visible.

Supermoons happen when the Moon reaches its perigee -- the point in the Moon’s orbit where it is closest to Earth. The Full Moon appears slightly larger than a typical full moon due to it being closer to Earth. To a casual observer a supermoon can appear much brighter and about 10 to 15 percent larger than an average full moon.

The term supermoon was coined by American astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 while reading the book Strategic Role Of Perigean Spring Tides in Nautical History and Coastal Flooding published in 1976 by NOAA Hydrologist Fergus Wood and specifies that the Moon must be within 90% of perigee.

NASA graphic showing the size difference between the Moon at
Perigee (Supermoon) and Apogee (Micromoon) when the Moon
is farther away in its orbit of Earth.

There are actually two different types of supermoons: Full Supermoons and New Supermoons.

The New Supermoons, like any other New Moon, aren't visible from Earth in the night sky depending on your particular time zone. There were two of them earlier this year in January and February, and one more this December -- making seven supermoons for 2022.

Now if one was going by the specific definition of a supermoon -- when the Moon is the closest to the Earth in its orbit at perigee -- then the true supermoon for 2022 will occur on July 13th this year.

The following are the names and dates of the Supermoons of 2022, as well as the distance of the Moon from the Earth during each one:

Full Supermoons of 2022

Full Flower Moon -- May 16th -- 225,013 miles (362,127 km)
Full Strawberry Moon -- June 14th -- 222,238 miles (357,658 km)
Full Buck Moon -- July 13th -- 222,089 miles (357,418 km)
Full Sturgeon Moon -- August 11th -- 224,569 miles (361,409 km)

New Supermoons of 2022

New Wolf Moon -- January 2nd -- 222,478 miles (358,044 km)
New Snow Moon -- February 1st -- 226,493 miles (364,505 km)
New Cold Moon -- December 23rd -- 223,701 miles (360,013 km)

I hope to be able to capture a good image of the Full Buck Supermoon later this summer, when our lovely Luna will be at her closest approach to our beautiful Earth in the evening sky. 

Until next time have a wonderful evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear!

Full Flower Supermoon Lunar Eclipse 05-15/16-2022

A very good evening and salutations to y'all!

Tonight is a glorious night for us amateur stargazers and night sky enthusiasts with the arrival of the Lunar Eclipse here in North America. This will be an extra special treat since tonight's full moon is a supermoon!

A supermoon happens when the moon reaches its perigee -- or closest point to the Earth in a month -- coinciding with either the Full Moon or New Moon. Tonight our beautiful Luna is approximately 225,015 miles (362,127 km) from the Earth in its orbit.

There will actually be four Full supermoons this year beginning in May and continuing throughout the summer months. The closest of these supermoons will take place on the evening of Wednesday, July 13, 2022 when the moon will be approximately 222,089 miles (357,418 km) from Earth in its orbit.

May's full moon is known in North America as the Full Flower Moon, making tonight's lunar eclipse the Full Flower Supermoon Lunar Eclipse.

I was a bit concerned about cloud cover since it was partly cloudy all day today, but thankfully as the evening and night progressed the skies began to clear up -- thank you Lord!

Graphic depicting the Earth's shadows during the Lunar Eclipse.

The lunar eclipse began here in South Carolina at exactly 9:32 PM EST when the lighter part of the Earth's shadow began to cross over the Moon. This part is known as the Penumbra Eclipse. The penumbra is the partial shadow of the Earth across the Moon and its so light that its barely noticeable to the naked eye.

At exactly 10:28 PM EST, our lovely Luna then crossed into the umbra -- the darker part of the shadow of the Earth across the Moon. This is when the darkening of the Moon's surface becomes noticeably visible.

For the next hour the dark shadow of the Earth continued to cross the face of the Moon until reaching totality at about 11:30 PM EST. The following are the photos I took of the progressive darkening and then reddening of the Moon.

The Full Lunar Eclipse reached its peak at 12:12 AM EST on Monday, May 16th with the darkest center part of the Earth's shadow completely covering the face of the Moon blocking out all reflecting sunlight. This is referred to at the totality of the eclipse, which lasted about 85 minutes from 11:30 PM EST to 12:54 AM EST.

The Full Flower Supermoon Lunar Eclipse began at about 9:30 PM EST and ends at 2:50 AM EST on Monday, May 16th; a total time of about 5 hours and 20 minutes. It was a wonderful heavenly show to behold and I was thankful to be able to share the experience with y'all this evening.

Have a wonderful night and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.

South Carolina Confederate Memorial Day Service 2022

 

The following are the photos taken by your favorite blogger during my attendance of the 2022 Confederate Memorial Day Services at historic Elmwood Cemetery in downtown Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday, May 7, 2022.

This service is put on annually every first Saturday of May by the South Carolina Divisions of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (SC UDC), Sons of Confederate Veterans (SC SCV), Order of the Confederate Rose (SC OCR), the Military Order of the Stars & Bars (MOSB), and the Palmetto Battalion Living History Reenactors to honor the memory of the Confederate soldier in conjunction with the Confederate Memorial Day State Holiday -- May 10th in South Carolina.

My attendance marks my 20th official Confederate Memorial Day service in a row as a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Members of the 16th SC Honor Guard on post at the Confederate
Soldiers Section of Elmwood Cemetery.

Members of the Palmetto Battalion, 2nd Regiment SC Volunteer
Infantry marching into the cemetery.

Members of the 16th SC Honor Guard lined up for the
Confederate Memorial Day 2022 service.

The Picken Pearls (from Pickens, SC) playing music for the event.

The 16th SC Color Guard posting of the colors.

Pinning of the new SCV Guardians -- individuals who look after
graves of the Confederate dead and volunteer to maintain them

Congratulations Gentlemen!

The laying of the wreath at the graves.

Palmetto Battalion Reenactors firing the musket slaute.

Cannon salute by members of the Santee Light Artillery &
Hart's Battery Artillery Reenactors.

Canteen Ceremony.

16th SC Color Guard retiring of the colors.

A view of some of the crowd in attendance.

A special thanks to all those who share our common Confederate ancestry for attending this year. Once again it was my honor and my duty to attend this event and respect the memories of those Southern men, regardless of their backgrounds, who defended their homes during the War Between the States (1861-1865).