INVITATION TO MEET

The 2013 International Earth and Sky Photo Contest

From now through Earth Day, April 22, an on-line “Earth and Sky” photo contest is open for submission by any photography enthusiasts of any age from around the world. International projects The World at Night and Global Astronomy Month along with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory are the organizers of the Earth and Sky Photo Contest. The contest was founded by TWAN and Dark Skies Awareness project in 2008 as a regional program. It was expanded to an international effort in 2009 during the International Year of Astronomy. In 2012 participants from about 50 countries submitted a wonderful collection of nightscape images. The contest news was broadcasted by major science news media world-wide and the winning images were widely promoted. With the growing efforts of Astronomers Without Borders (AWB), the organization behind the Global Astronomy Month, the Earth and Sky Photo Contest will have an even larger feedback this year.

click the link below for further inquiry:
http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/news.asp?newsID=6078

LUNAR ECLIPSE IN APRIL 2013

 

Partial Lunar Eclipse in Abu Dhabi

April 25-26, 2013

Lunar Eclipse Starts - 23:55:55

Lunar Eclipse Ends - 00:22:11

Local Eclipse Duration - 00 Hours 26 Mins 15 Secs

First Contact with the Penumbra - 22:05:40

First Contact with the Umbra - 23:55:55

Maximum of Lunar Eclipse - 00:09:03

Last Contact with the Umbra - 00:22:11

Last Contact with the Penumbra - 02:12:26

Duration of Partial Phase - 00 Hours 26 Mins 15 Secs

Duration of Penumbral Phase - 04 Hours 06 Mins 45 Secs

20th March - Northward Equinox

The Northward equinox (or March equinox) is the equinox on the earth when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading northward. The Northward equinox is the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.

The equinox can be as early as March 19 or as late as March 21, the precise time being about 5 hours 49 minutes later in a common year, and about 18 hours 11 minutes earlier in a leap year, than in the previous year. It is the balance of common years and leap years that keeps the calendar date of the equinox from drifting more than a day from 20 March each year.

Celebrations:

The Persian Calendar begins each year at the Northward equinox, observationally determined at Tehran. 

The Indian National Calendar starts the year on the day next to the Vernal Equinox on March 22 (March 21 in leap years) with a 30-day month (31 days in leap years), then has 5 months of 31 days followed by 6 months of 30 days.

The Julian Calendar reform lengthened seven months and replaced the intercalary month with an intercalary day to be added every four years to February. It was based on a length for the year of 365 days and 6 hours (365.25 d), while the tropical year is about 11 minutes and 14 seconds less than that. This had the effect of adding about three quarters of an hour every four years. The effect accumulated from 325 until by the 16th century, when the northern vernal equinox fell on March 10 or 11.

Commemorations:

Abrahamic tradition

The Jewish Passover usually falls on the first full moon after the Northern Hemisphere vernal equinox, although occasionally (7 times every 19 years) it will occur on the second full moon.

The Christian churches calculate Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox. The official church definition for the equinox is March 21; however, as the Eastern Orthodox Churches use the older Julian calendar, while the Western Churches use the Gregorian calendar, both of which designate March 21 as the equinox, the actual date of Easter differs. The earliest possible Easter date in any year is therefore March 22 on each calendar. The latest possible Easter date in any year is April 25.

West Asia

The Northward equinox marks the first day of various calendars including the Iranian calendar. The ancient Iranian new year's festival of Nowruz can be celebrated March 20 or March 21. According to the ancient Persian mythology Jamshid, the mythological king of Persia, ascended to the throne on this day and each year this is commemorated with festivities for two weeks. These festivities recall the story of creation and the ancient cosmology of Iranian and Persian people. It is also a holiday celebrated in Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Zanzibar, Albania, and various countries of Central Asia, as well as among the Kurds. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday, it is also a holy day for adherents of the Bahá'í Faith and the Nizari Ismaili Muslims. The Bahá'í Naw-rúz is stationary; the new year always starts at sunset March 20.

In many Arab countries, Mother's Day is celebrated on the Northward equinox.

World Citizen Day occurs on the Northward equinox.



source: wikipedia

TIMEOUT ABU DHABI COMMUNITY FEATURES



Abu Dhabi Astronomy was featured in TimeOut Abu Dhabi, 12th of March 2013. Sara Taher the magazine's community writer elaborate and give life the history of this group. We are thankful for her effort and time in featuring us. Click the picture to brings you to the full contents of the write-ups. 

NEAR IMPACT

Hold on to your hats: an asteroid will zoom within spitting distance of Earth next week, in what NASA said is the closest flyby ever predicted for an object this large.

The 2012 DA 14, discovered by chance by astronomers after passing nearby last February, will be just around 17,200 miles (27,700 kilometers) above Earth's surface when it speeds by, the US Space Agency said.

That's outside the Earth's atmosphere, but closer than the orbit of most weather and communications satellites.

However, despite the close shave, NASA said there was nothing to fear.

"This asteroid's orbit is so well known that we can say with confidence that even considering it's orbital uncertainties, it can pass no closer than 17,100 miles from the Earth's surface. So no Earth impact is possible," said Donald Yeomans of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"At the same time, it will pass 5,000 miles inside the ring" of satellites, Yeomans told reporters, saying the asteroid's path puts it right in the "sweet spot" to avoid having any damaging impact.

The asteroid is predicted to come closest to Earth on February 15, at around 1924 GMT, plus or minus a minute or two, and will pass over the Indian Ocean off Sumatra.

It will be visible, with a little help from a telescope, in eastern Europe, Australia and Asia, astronomers said.

"What you would see through a small telescope would be something like a star, a small point of light... that moved against a background of stars," said Tim Spahr, of the Harvard-Smithsonian's Minor Planet Center.

The asteroid measures about 150 feet (45 meters) in diameter. That makes it relatively small by celestial standards.

"The object that ... took out the dinosaurs was about 10 kilometers," said Yeomans.

Nevertheless, if it were to hit the Earth, the impact would be roughly equivalent to a 2.4 megaton bomb -- enough to flatten a large area but not globally catastrophic, he explained.

NASA estimates an smallish asteroid like 2012 DA 14 flies close to the Earth every 40 years, on average, but only hits the Earth once every 1,200 years.

Statistically-speaking, that means we're probably safe for quite a while, since a similar asteroid hit just over 100 years ago.

"With an estimated size of the order of 50 meters, (2012 DA 14) is comparable in dimensions to the object that destroyed over 2,000 square kilometers of forest in Tunguska, Siberia, on 30th June 1908," Mark Bailey, director of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, told AFP.

Astronomers have detected some 9,500 celestial bodies of various sizes that pass near Earth, but they estimate that's only a tenth of what's out there.

Even 2012 DA 14 was almost missed last year, because of how quickly it passed through the observable sky, said Jaime Nomen, one of the astronomers who spotted it from the La Sagra observatory in southern Spain.

"It was an elusive target, and it could have been undetected," he told AFP.

But NASA, in its teleconference Thursday, emphasized that it was keeping a careful watch on the skies, including telescopes that make nightly sweeps, with ever improving technology.

"We've found about 95 percent of those larger asteroids that come close to the Earth," said Lindley Johnson, a top official in the space agency's Near-Earth Object Observations Program.

Smaller objects, like 2012 DA 14, are more numerous and harder to spot, he said, but NASA has found "lots" of them.

And based on the agency's observations and analysis, this is the nearest brush for a serious asteroid impact for the foreseeable future.

SOURCE: YAHOO NEWS

MARCH EQUINOX

March 20, 2013, 11:02 UTC

There are two equinoxes every year, for 2013, equinoxes will be in March and September. This events will happen when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly the same. Moreover, seasons on this time are opposite on either side of the equator, so the equinox in March is also known as the "spring equinox" in the northern hemisphere. However, in the southern hemisphere, it's known as the "autumnal (fall) equinox".

Why is it called equinox?

On the equinox, night and day are nearly exactly the same length all over the world. This is the reason it's called an "equinox", derived from Latin, meaning "equal night". However, even if this is widely accepted, it isn't entirely true. In reality equinoxes don't have exactly 12 hours of daylight.

POSSIBLE SITE FOR A STAR GAZING IN ABU DHABI

The X mark in the picture shows a possible nice place for star gazing. It is near to the city but away from glowing lights.

OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012 SKY EVENTS

October 20-21: Orionids Meteor Shower. Wake up super early or stay up really late between Oct 20-24, head outside with a thermos full of good stuff and look up into the night sky for what will hopefully be 20 meteors and hour. Get outside the city and suburbs, beyond light pollution, to take in the show.

November 13: A total solar eclipse will take place on 13–14 November 2012 (UT), Australia and New Zealand local date 14th November, with a magnitude of 1.0500, occurring only 12 hours before perigee, with greatest eclipse totality lasting just over 4 minutes. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across the surface of the Earth, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible over a region thousands of kilometres wide.

November 17-18: Leonids Meteor Shower. If you thought the Orionids were cool, the Leonids will blow your socks off with their 40 meteors an hour. Again, a dark location is important, as you'll have to find the Leo constellation first to pinpoint the sky location for the meteor shower. Having travelled to see the Leonids before, we can say that yeah, they're awesome.

November 28: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. The eclipse will be visible throughout most of Europe, eastern Africa, Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and North America. So...everybody party!

December 3: Jupiter at Opposition. The giant planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. Again, a telescope is recommended if you'd like to do more than point at a vague point in the sky.

December 13-14: Geminids Meteor Shower. Getting even better than the Leonids, the Geminids streak by with up to 60 meteors an hour. If you can stand the December cold under a dark sky, locate the Gemini constellation to watch the show after midnight.

The Blue Moon

    

     Blue Moon is a term used the second full moon of the calendar month.  Why everybody call this way?

     August 2012 is a month with two full moons and by popular acclaim, this means it’s a Blue Moon month, it is not literally the moon turns into blue, but just a name only.  The first full moon was on August 1st and the second moon this August 31, 2012.

     The time between one full moon and the next is closer to the length of the calendar month. So, the only time one month can have to full moons is when the first moon happens in the first few days of the month. This happens every 2-3 years, so these sorts of Blue Moon come about that often.

      Can there be two blue moons in a single calendar year? Yes, it has happened in 1999. There were two full moons in January and two full moons in March and no full moon in February. So both January and March had blue moons.

      The next year of double blue moons is coming in 2018.

AUGUST 2012 METEOR SHOWER

The Perseids have been observed by humans for about 2000 years, with the earliest knowledge of their existence emerging from the Far East. It is one of the finest meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60-100 bright, fast, and colorful meteors per hour during their peak. This annual meteor shower is active from July 23 through August 22, and usually peaks on August 11 and 12.

Perseids is extremely consistent in its timing and can potentially be observable for several weeks in the summer sky, conditional on your whereabouts, lighting conditions, and weather. Meteor showers are commonly named after their radiant point, the perspective point in the sky from which the meteors appear to come from. In the case of Perseids, it is named after the constellation Perseus, which is positioned in approximately the same point in which the Perseids meteor shower appears to originate from.

While this summer spectacular appears to radiate from a constellation, they are actually caused by the Earth passing through the dust particles of the comet Swift-Tuttle. Each summer, Earth passes into a trail of dust left by this comet, and as a result, all the dust and debris burning up in our atmosphere, travelling at a very fast 132,000 miles per second (59 km/s), produces the spectacle known as the Perseids meteor shower, or what are popularly recognized as “shooting stars”. There's no danger to sky watchers, though. The fragile grains disintegrate long before they reach the ground.

While the meteors are certainly bright, they are typically not much larger than a grain of sand. However, as they travel at immense speeds, these tiny particles put on an impressive show. Due to the way the comet’s orbit is tilted, dust from the Swift-Tuttle falls on Earth’s northern hemisphere. Unfortunately, this leads to extremely low visibility for those in Australia, New Zealand, and portions of South America.

In 2012, the waning crescent moon occurring on August 12 will not have a negative impact on the visibility of the Perseids. Due to the lack of bright moonlight, the fainter meteors will not be concealed from view. It is advisable to observe the meteor shower during the predawn hours on the mornings of August 11, 12, and 13. With up to 60-100 meteors per hour predicted, observers may catch plenty of bright meteors streaking along in the light of the moon.

ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY #1

USING CANON EOS 1100D

ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

Night sky photography is extremely rewarding because we often capture of things that our own eyes either can't see, or never think of looking to them. When seeing photos of stars, heavenly objects, or other night images, we often surprised by the facinating colors it gives. People often think these photos captured are either unreal or manipulated. While that could be the case, what most people don't understand about light is that the human eye doesn't discern between the chemical compounds that make up light. Humans view a very narrow spectrum. Cameras, on the other hand, can pick up light wavelengths that is composed of chemical compounds like helium, hydrogen, and so on. These chemicals change the color of light that we can't easily see, but cameras can.

I make this blog about astrophotography, to invite astrophotographers to share their experiences in night photography or astrophotography in the area of Abu Dhabi and might organized an event for astrophotography.

Before the week end came I was invited and discovered a heavenly place in the heart of desert where it is an excellent location to strart an astrophotography career.

VENUS TRANSIT - June 6, 2012

Every astronomy fanatics are waiting for the sun to shine to see how planet Venus passes to it's perimeter. I was setting up my telescope when my eyes captured by the beauty of the the moon. It gives me an idea to capture the moon also to see how jealous she is when people are waiting for Venus to appear.

Images taken was the picture of the Moon and Venus passing from the sun.    

TIPS FOR SAFER VENUS TRANSIT VIEWING

Astronomy fanatics are searching for tips on how to safely view the transit of Venus  this June 2012.  Here are the five important suggestions to follow.

The rare event that takes place four times in around 250 years is set to become visible across the world over Tuesday and Wednesday.  The transit of Venus occurs when Venus moves along the face of Sun. From earth, people can observe Venus as a black dot passing over the sun. The transit will last for a few hours. Obervers from across the world can enjoy the Transit of Venus, which consider as one of the exciting celestial events ever. The next Transit of Venus, you will have to wait over 100 years.

 In obeserving this event y
ou should take enough precautions to consider, same like you do with a solar or lunar eclipse. Here are five safety tips you should consider while watching the space wonder. Otherwise, it might blind your eyes in a matter of minutes.

Welding glass: You can use welding glass if you don’t have any specialized tool for sun watching. It is a nice idea to use this glass to ensure complete security for your eyes even if the equipment doesn’t look nice. It features special filter that can let you enjoy safe viewing and enjoy the event greatly.

Prepare a pinhole projector: Pinhole projector is famous in eclipse watching. This technique can be applied to observe the Transit of Venus safely. It is also easy to build a pinhole projector. You have to spend around half an hour to set up the projector. But the shortcoming of unmagnified views as Venus comes near to the edges of sun. Similar to the welding glass, small features such as the ‘black drop’ effect will not be visible.

Using reflector telescope or binoculars: It is another safe method to use a reflector telescope or binocular to have the magnified view of the sun. It is more advanced way to have a view of the Transit of Venus. If there is a large binocular, several people can easily watch the event. However, magnified projection tools have some limitations.

Use of popular projection device: It is a method to allow a huge crowd of people to watch the transit of Venus concurrently. It is to project magnified images through closed-loop equipment, which will let many people observe the celestial wonder. It is also safer for the eyes of onlookers. The popular projection tool is made of simple materials that include a plastic funnel, an eyepiece, a clamp, some projection fabric and others.

Watch live telecast: If you are stopped from face-to-face observing of the event due to some reasons including clouds or others, it is great to depend on any telecast or podcast. You can watch the live webcast from atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which is provided with expert commentary at NASA EDGE. You can also find some podcasts to have a view of the 2012 Transit of Venus.

Transit of Venus, 5/6 June

On 5/6 June 2012 a celestial takes place that is so rare that it will not be seen again by anyone now living. On June 8, 2004 Venus crossed the face of the Sun for the first time since the 19th century. This spectacle will be repeated again on 5/6 June for the last time until 2117.

The next transit of Venus, where Venus appears as a dark spot in front of the Sun, will begin at 22:09 UTC on 5 June 2012, and will finish at 04:49 UTC on 6 June.[1] Depending on the position of the observer, the exact times can vary by up to ±7 minutes. Transits of Venus occur in pairs that are eight years apart: the previous transit was in June 2004, and the next pair of transits will occur in December 2117 and December 2125.

The entire transit will be visible from the western Pacific Ocean, north-western North America, north-eastern Asia, Japan, eastern Australia, New Zealand, eastern Africa, Arabia and high Arctic locations including northern Scandinavia, Iceland and Greenland. In North America, the beginning of the transit will be visible on 5 June until sunset. From sunrise on 6 June, the end of the transit will be visible from South Asia, the Middle East, east Africa and most of Europe. It will not be visible from most of South America or western Africa.

Venus and Jupiter Conjunction

 

Venus and Jupiter will be in conjunction on March 15th, 2012, passing within 3° of each other. The two planets have been getting closer and closer in the sky for the last month, and now it’s time to see them side-by-side. Venus is the higher, brighter object, and Jupiter is the lower dimmer one. Venus and Jupiter aren’t actually close to one another in the sky. They’re really separated by millions of kilometres. But from our perspective here on Earth, we see the two objects closely lined up. That’s a conjunction.

On March 15th, 2012 at 10:37 UTC, Venus and Jupiter reach 3° distance from one another. That’s approximately 6 times the width of the full Moon.

AWB Invitation

Eros Parallax Project Begins! Join the project Tonight many amateur astronomers and school classes are eagerly awaiting the asteroid Eros, now at its closest to Earth.  From January 28 to February 3 they will take an image of Eros either through a telescope or with a telephoto lens. Photographs of Eros submitted by amateur astronomers around the world will show slight differences in the asteroid’s position due to parallax. Along with each observer’s location, this parallax information will be used to find a precise distance to Eros, just like professional astronomers did in January 1931. The Eros Parallax Project is first and foremost fun to take part in. You don’t have to be an experienced astrophotographer to be able to make valuable observations. An ordinary SRL camera with telephoto lens, mounted on a tripod, could be enough. Using free, online software you will determine the celestial coordinates of Eros on your images and submit the data to the project website. With the data submitted by you and the other participants, the distance to Eros will be calculated. The instructions on the project website are clear and simple to follow. The Eros Parallax Project is also a great educational opportunity; the data and submitted images will be made available for classrooms to use to find the distance themselves. This resource will last forever, and will certainly inspire some young astronomers to take part the next time Eros comes close to Earth again. It will also prepare classrooms for the even rarer event coming in June – the transit of Venus. Along with enjoying the night sky, developing observing skills and gaining an understanding of our solar system, participants and the students who benefit will repeat the work of the professional astronomers of the 1930s and learn about real research. See the Eros Parallax Project web page for more information on how to take part.

Connect With AWB Twitter: http://twitter.com/awb_org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/astronomerswithoutborders Google Plus: http://bit.ly/gplus_awb Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AstroWB

gulfnews : Heavy snowfall on Ras Al Khaimah's Jebel Jais mountain cluster

gulfnews : Heavy snowfall on Ras Al Khaimah's Jebel Jais mountain cluster

FIRST METEOR SHOWER OF 2012

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on Wednesday January 4th, this event occurs when Earth passes through a narrow stream of debris from a comet thought to have broken apart some 500 years ago.  The shower is expected to be strong but elusive, with a peak that lasts no longer than a couple of hours.  The shower's radiant near Polaris favors observers in the northern hemisphere.