Comet Lovejoy Grazes the Sun (and survives)

Steele Hill of SOHO/STEREO/SDO Media , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center comments:

Comet Lovejoy came into view on Dec. 14 as a bright, white streak, skimmed across the Sun’s edge about 140,000 km above the surface late Dec. 15 and early Dec. 16, 2011, furiously brightening and vaporizing as it approached the Sun. It exited our field of view on Dec. 18. It was the brightest sun-grazing comet that SOHO had ever seen, with a nucleus about twice as wide as a football field. It unexpectedly survived the pass and cruised out from behind the Sun some hours later. Comets are ancient balls of dust and ice.

In the image below, we combine views from SOHO’s two different coronagraphs (which block out the Sun) with solar Dynamics Observatory’s view of the Sun itself. Note how the tail of the comet always turns away from the Sun due to the forces of the solar wind.

13 December 2011

Yet another remarkable image by Dieter Willasch has been welcomed by the editors of NASA's Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD) web site. This is a crop of the original image. The full version and editorial article can be viewed at http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111213.html

Another image by Dieter, voted by the public, was used this year for the front cover of the Sky Guide Africa South 2012.

Haven't got your copy yet? Click HERE

Image by Dieter Willasch (Astro-Cabinet) I

03 December 2011

ISS pass over South Africa. Visit Spacecraft page to see large image and for more info.

Image by O.Toumilovitch

I

30 September 2011

Visit our Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd image gallery to view the images by South African astro-photographers. Latest image- 5th October 2011 by Kos Coronaios.

Image by K. Coronaios

11 September 2011

As September full Moon rose above the horizon, I observed through a telescope a bat or a bird (?), dancing in the moonlight. Download the full clip from here (Please note it is a large 2 MB gif animation)

Still images and description can be seen at Spaceweather.com spotter page

Image by O. Toumilovitch

31 July 2011

Three large sunspot groups are moving across the solar disc, continuously changing size and shape.

Image by O. Toumilovitch

16 July 2011

"What an amazing sight and a tremendous closure to the Shuttle program in this way.."

Image by W. Koorts

16 July 2011

Space Shuttle Atlantis, docked to the International station, is in it's final space voyage. More images from South Africa will be on display during following few days.

Spaceweather.com Spotter Page

Image by O. Toumilovitch

14 July 2011

My latest and best so far result of the Moon / Airplane project.

Also visit the Spaceweather.com "Spotter Page" to see the images.

Images by O. Toumilovitch

02 July 2011

"What is now the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory or HartRAO was originally built in 1961 by NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the USA, as a tracking station for its probes that were being sent to explore space beyond Earth orbit. It was also known as the Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (DSIF). It was officially opened in July 1961, 50 years ago. The antenna was originally built with an aluminum mesh surface, and operated at a frequency of 960 MHz, i.e. a wavelength of about 30 cm. The lightweight mesh surface was quite transparent optically." (Courtesy of HartRAO)

Visit HartRAO web site

Image by O. Toumilovitch

15 June 2011

Watch Eclipsed Moon in 3D, as well as a collection of great eclipse images from South Africa!

Total Lunar Eclipse Page

Image by O. Toumilovitch

19 May 2011

International Space Station with Docked STS-134 Endeavor.
View our Spacecraft page and Spaceweather.com page

Image by O. Toumilovitch

50-th Anniversary of the First Manned Space Mission is celebrated together with visiting South Africa Cosmonaut

Continue to First Man In Space page

ISS imaged as it files over South Africa on the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight.

View Spacecraft page

21 March , 2011

Lost in space? No, it's just a perfect alignment. As the Moon rises, the airplanes cross the line of sight between the telescope and the Moon. Sounds easy, but in fact it should be easier to catch the ISS crossing the disc of the Moon or the Sun by using accurate predictions by the Calc Sky , than to catch an airplane - they are so unpredictable! Continue..

Images by O.Toumilovitch