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Mercury - elusive world:
Now is an good chance to see the elusive planet Mercury in the evening sky. Look low (altitude 6 to 9°) in the west north-west about 45 minutes to one hour after sunset. The planet is at its very best about the 4th May 2008. The magnitude is then -0.5. By midmonth greatest elongation occurs, but although the planet will be slightly higher in the sky, it will be a magnitude fainter.
Photo (at right) by John O'Neill on 4th May 2008 with a digital camera lens at 100mm focal length (detail shown).
Mercury is not quite the unknown world since the MESSENGER spacecraft flew by the planet in January 2008 extending the
coverage as seen by Mariner 10 in the mid 1970s. See scientific results.
Sketch of M51 showing the spiral arms by Deirdre Kelleghan. 6th April 2008. 51cm reflector, 96x at the Cosmos Star Party, Tullamore, Co Offaly.
A finder chart (from Guide8) of M51 is shown below. The galaxy lies 3.6° SW of Eta UMa. Stars to 8th magnitude are shown.
The spiral structure can only be made out in larger telescopes under good transparency.
The first component (the Russian Zarya module) of the International Space Station (ISS) was launched in late 1998. Since then
numerous bits have been added. Most recently in early 2008 the European Columbus and Japanese Kibo modules.
The has resulted in a steady brightening of the station to earth bound observers.Every few weeks the station has passes in the evening or morning skies. Accurate predictions are available at Heavens-Above. Select your location from the database and pick the ISS. Other satellites such as the ATV are available. There is no charge for using the site.
The image shows the ISS and the European ATV ("Jules Verne") cargo module flying in formation on 1st April 2008. By
J.O'Neill.