Tag: observer

‘Tis the Season..For the Orion Nebula

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It’s that wonderful time of year again, when Halloween passes, and Christmas commercials dictate the airwaves.  I’m still in the tolerant stages of hearing bells ringing in commercials, where they remind me that the northern hemisphere is once again treated to a familiar sight.  The return of the Orion nebula! In reality, it didn’t go anywhere.  Earth’s predictable motion around the Sun means that Northern Hemisphere observers see the sky gradually appear to move a bit further West each night.  This is the time of year when Orion rises around 9pm, making it easily visible by midnight.  I consider midnight...

The Daily Double: ISS Transits the Sun Twice

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The International Space Station is orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 400 Km, give or take.  This gives it an orbital period of about 90 minutes.  Keen observers on Earth can track these movements and look for the ISS in the sky as it passes overhead.  Some of the keenest observers even take photos, and plan for incredible transits.  In the case below, we can see the ISS transit the Sun, twice in one day. A carefully chosen time and place on Earth by the photographer Hartwig Luethen, this photo was taken on August 22nd, during two successive transits....