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... One stop, one page, BBS system ...
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The
... Recreational Astronomer ...
(...(Current Sun)...)
(...(The Sun's landscape as it exists now - through time-lapse shots as it turns)...)
(...(Note : on the first load of this page the first rotation is very slow as it loads the animation image at 6 meg)...)
(...(then it will turn at normal speed)...)
(...(Note : The Sun's rotation period is about 25 days at the equator to 36 days at the poles.)...)
(...(the last couple of animation shots are what the Sun looks like currently from Earth ... do a screen capture)...)
(...(and paste it to "Paint" to see the part of the animation you want to see as a "Still Picture")...)
(...(this part of the site is less dynamic but can be interesting and fun if done right as an outing experience)...)
(...(if you like to look at the Moon with small scopes, use the below information to help better determine your best viewing times)...)
(...(use the "Current Moon" image below to judge where the terminator is, as your best viewing is close to there and plan outings accordingly)...)
Here is a small scope and binocular Moon Map
(...(I recommend getting a planisphere for Star Observing with Binoculars - this is a big plus)...)
(...(you can get one here at SkyMaps.com)...)
(...(a planisphere is fun to navigate, study, and plan your outings while you wait for an opportune time)...)
(...(let your Planisphere be the limiting factor - not your Binoculars)...)
For the position of the Planets. Use RA by hour only is all that is needed;
Planets appear on the ecliptic, so use your Planisphere and the RA reading below and find them on the ecliptic of the Planisphere
to find them when you do your outing. This will get you in the very close ball park.
(...(as Planet's positions change slowly)..)
(...(Mars and Venus are pretty quick but easily recognizable and position changes little over a month)...)
2010 Planets' RA by hour only Object Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mercury 19h 19h 22h 1h 2h 3h 6h 10h 10h 11h 15h 18h Venus 18h 21h 23h 1h 4h 7h 9h 11h 13h 14h 13h 13h Sun 18h 21h 22h 0h 2h 4h 6h 8h 10h 12h 14h 16h Mars 9h 8h 8h 8h 9h 9h 10h 12h 13h 14h 16h 17h Jupiter 21h 22h 22h 23h 23h 23h 0h 0h 0h 23h 23h 23h Saturn 12h 12h 12h 12h 11h 11h 11h 12h 12h 12h 12h 12h Uranus 23h 23h 23h 23h 23h 0h 0h 0h 23h 23h 23h 23h Neptune 21h 21h 21h 21h 22h 22h 22h 22h 21h 21h 21h 21h Pluto 18h 18h 18h 18h 18h 18h 18h 18h 18h 18h 18h 18h
Here is some planetary information with Earth as a reference ... from NASA ... not sure you can get this anymore.
Also ... if we EVER get into space again ... here is where we will be headed shown below ... period ...
Mars is almost to big to land on and get off again. Plus I don't think there is much there of use.
Look for fossil simple life is all you might find there. So the other Moons of the system are it folks.
The new Argon Plasma engine may be the trick. I hope so. A real Space effort again would be fun.
... Still Under Construction... But I have begun and have one short blog so far ...
Hit the big equation to start the Blog
(...(There is a stop button 'f(x)= ' :::: scrolling text when you don't want it can be annoying)...)
A Space Battle
- The Micro Blog -
Battle until one of you is destroyed
