This morning I snapped that pic of the Moon and Jupiter close together. I took it with my new iPhone 18. That’s by far the best shot of astronomical objects I’ve ever made with a smartphone camera. It could be better, I’m still learning the intricacies of the phone and its cameras. But otherwise I’m very impressed....
2013 is promising (or threatening, depending on the stock one puts in omens) to be an incredible year for comets in our sky. Depending on where you live there are two and maybe even three of those cosmic iceballs that may give us quite a show. In a few short weeks Comet PANSTARRS will become visible to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere: perhaps more brilliant than any in more than a decade. Comet Lemmon, found late last year, could turn into a moderately bright beauty for our friends south of the Equator (and certain gases in its tail are giving it a green color).
The big, big show is still to come. This fall brings Comet ISON… and it could be one massive honker of a spectacle, folks! If you remember Comet Hyakutake in the spring of 1996 and how enormous it was (I’ll never forget how it ...
Not really trees, but an optical illusion captured by NASA’s HiRISE camera in orbit around the red planet. What appears to be a scattering of pine trees is actually several trails of debris near Mars’s north pole, left behind as the ice cap goes on its seasonal retreat.
Mash down here for more about the “trees” of Mars!...