Short video this week just sun, moon, and planets; I didn't have much free time. Moon interfers with dark sky views. There are some GRS crossings on Jupiter this week if you happen to have clear, transparent skies. The GRS is tough to see visually through the eyepiece as not as much contrast this year as in the past. Shows nicely on webcam if you have one. Take a look at Copernicus shown in the intro. Wednesday or Thursday night is the best time this week. Its hard to miss -- on Wed/Thurs it'll be the most prominent crater about midway between north and south limb just east (right) of the terminator.

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Still some dark sky this weekend as the moon sets just before midnight. This weeks dark sky feature is Messier 27, the dumbbell nebula in constellation Vulpecula. This is the most splendid planetary nebula in the entire sky. Can be seen in 3-4 inch scopes but is much better with 10 inches aperture and larger. It is especially stunning with really large aperture scopes 18 inches and up.

Jupiter is up sooner and timing is such that there are quite a number of GRS transits this week. Use lots of power if conditions permit.

Take a look for Earthshine on the Moon Wed through Fri.

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Summer is here. The nights are shorter, the evenings are pleasant. Now if the mosquitoes and clouds will stay away we'll be able to enjoy some of the great summertime objects. Globular clusters are some of my favorite objects to observe. Some are easy to view with binoculars or even naked eye at really dark location. Others are tough to find even with pin point tracking and expensive ccd cameras. They are among the oldest objects in our universe. The dark sky feature this week is Messier 4 and Messier 5 globular clusters. Both should be fairly easy to find with a small scope.

Very late this week, seemed to take forever to finish for some reason.

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There are several great red spot crossings for Jupiter images and observers this week. Currently there is one small faint region for solar observers to find. NThere is an hour and half of astronomical darkness this weekend so take a look at Messier 57, the Ring Nebula, in constellation Lyra in the evening. Unfortunately, no passes of the International Space Station are visible for us in the Denver area this week.

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The Moon dominates the night sky this week. There is 0 hours and 0 minutes of astronomical darkness on Saturday evening. If you are fortunate to have clear skies point your scope toward the Moon and locate some of its domes, valley, peaks, and craters. For the Denver area there aren't any ISS passes and no Jupiter Red Spot crossings either.

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This week the moon returns to the evening sky. Take the opportunity to explore its mainy craters, rilles, valleys, and domes. Saturn is getting further away and bit smaller and dimmer from view. Jupiter is increasing in size and brightness and in good position for viewing around 5 am. There are a couple bright passes of the ISS this week as well.

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The constellation Virgo is straight south as soon soon as twilight ends in the evening. Locate the Markarian chain of galaxies about midway between stars Denebola and Vendemiatrix. Jupiter is now in good position for viewing before twilight begins in early morning. Venus is dazzling in the low in eastern as well.

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There are a few hours of dark sky this weekend before moon rise. Get out your scope and get a springtime view of the most impressive globular visible from the northern hemisphere, Messier 13. From the Denver area there are some bright passes of the International Space Station early in the week in the evening hours.

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The Moon is full moon this weekend so we won't get any dark sky views but there are some bright passes of the International Space Station both in the morning and evening. Last chance to view Mercury for a few weeks as it will soon disappear from evening view. Venus is spectacularly bright before sunrise. Jupiter is in good viewing position before dawn. Saturn's rings are tilted at 4 degrees, the maximum this year.

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By midweek the moon interferes with early evening dark sky views and by the weekend, nearly the whole night. The moon though is a fascinating object and always worth exploring. You can still view Mercury and Saturn in the evening sky and Jupiter, Mars, and Venus in the morning sky as dawn breaks. No good passes of the ISS this week for us in the Denver area either. Moonlight will interfer with comet hunting and observing meteor showers this week and next. I added a new 'astro hints' section about a cheap way to clear corrector plates and diagonals of dew and frost.

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Here is a short video showing moon occulting the planet Venus early morning, April 22, 2009. Not everything went according to plan, I anticipated switching to video camera on Nexstar scope but I waited to long and couldn't locate focus because of bright sky. It would have better continue using Canon Xti on main scope instead switching. Oh well, maybe next time!

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Its dark sky week and there is lots of fascinating stuff going on! Wednesday morning the moon occults the planet Venus just after sunrise (for those of us in the Denver area). The Lyrid meteor shower peaks on Wednesday and Thursday. On Saturday evening you can view or photograph a very thin crescent Moon less than one day old. There are dozen or so comets brighter than magnitude 12. There are hundreds of springtime galaxies and nebulae to track down as well. And best of all, the mosquitoes aren't out just yet and the nights aren't that cold either!

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