Jedolby

  Are you a collector of comets? Are you keeping a list of all the comets you've looked at or taken pictures of with your telescope? If so, is Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 on your list of comets that you've already seen? It should be! If not, make it so! Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 (which I will hereafter refer to as "Comet 29P" or just "29P") is not your ordinary comet. No, it's not interstellar, like Comet 3I/ATLAS . It's not inhabited by aliens. That's not what I mean by "not your ordinary comet." No, what I mean is that, unlike other comets, 29P has a nearly circular orbit, out beyond the orbit of Jupiter. It constantly displays a coma, throughout its entire journey around the sun each year. Its average distance from the sun is 562,417,500 miles, and the difference between its furthest point (aphelion) and closest point (perihelion) is only 50.3 million miles. Both aphelion and perihelion are farther away from the sun than ...

Total eclipse phase at 4:33 AM While the rest of the world is sharing their eclipse photos, probably composed when the International Space Station was crossing the moon during maximum eclipse, or, perhaps when the Blood Moon was setting over some dramatic scene, like Joshua Tree National Monument, or the Golden Gate Bridge, I share with you here my humble submission from the back yard.  No, I didn't travel anywhere exotic. Nor did I wait to capture the eclipse with an airplane or the ISS passing through the field of view. My picture is just your run-of-the-mill, totally-eclipsed moon, against its natural background of ho-hum stars in the constellation Leo.  The morning of March 3rd, here in Tucson, AZ, was balmy. Around 56° F. Skies were perfectly clear. There was no wind. I was looking forward to this eclipse because I haven't shot a lunar eclipse since the partial one we had back on September 17 of 2024 . Prior to that, I think I have to go back to May 15, 2022, to find imag...