Have you tried using a stepladder, that sometimes helps.
Yeah, good point, cos it's weird to the casual observer seeing a bloke at gone midnight in the freezing cold wandering round a back garden or out in the street staring up at the sky aimlessly, but when you throw a stepladder into the mix it all makes perfect sense!
Anyway, I presume I've missed it now, or will this extravaganza still be visible tonight?
If it is, which way should I be looking? (and don't say "up"!)
You want to wait until the sun has dipped below the horizon so the sky is starting to get dark. Look up a bit and left of where the sun went down and you should see a very bright 'star'. It may even be visible before the sun has completely gone down, so bright is it. This is Venus. If you look up a bit from there you should see a reddish 'star'. This is Mars.
Apart from during an eclipse, Venus is only ever visible around dusk and dawn because it's close to the sun than we are. It's the same for Mercury, whereas all the other planets are further away from the sun than us and so, assuming they are in the right part of the sky, visible all night long.
Did you see me wandering about at gone midnight last night looking up at the sky aimlessly?
Yep, I was the one carrying the stepladder ;-)
The moon sets around 00.36, so anything after midnight and you won't see it.
The forecast tonight is a clear sky and best time to view is from 7pm onwards.
If you imagine you're coming out of the Beehive (soberly of course), turn and look directly over the Coop and you should see it in the South.
Mars, Jupiter and Venus are all visible up in the same area as the moon, with Uranus in the background, but you would need a good telescope to see that.
There's a lot of street light pollution there but most of it should be visible.
You fellas are killing me here. That's two days running I've been out looking and I can't even see the moon, let alone anything else. Plenty of stars, but no moon.
Has someone stolen it? That fella from Despicable Me maybe?
Not until you asked but the following text suggests if you saw a wry green meteor it was probably because it had a high proportion of magnesium in it.
'Source of light When meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere, they collide with numerous air molecules. Those collisions sputter away the outer layers of the particle, creating a vapor of sodium, iron and magnesium atoms. In subsequent collisions, electrons are knocked into orbits at larger mean distances from the nucleus of the atoms. When the electrons fall back to their rest positions, light is emitted. This is the same process as in gas discharge lamps. colors of a meteor
Colors of meteors The color of many Leonids is caused by light emitted from metal atoms from the meteoroid (blue, green, and yellow) and light emitted by atoms and molecules of the air (red). The metal atoms emit light much like in our sodium discharge lamps: sodium (Na) atoms give an orange-yellow light, iron (Fe) atoms a yellow light, magnesium (Mg) a blue-green light, ionized calcium (Ca+) atoms may add a violet hue, while molecules of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) and oxygen atoms (O) give a red light. The meteor color depends on whether the metal atom emissions or the air plasma emissions dominate.'
Not until you asked but the following text suggests if you saw a wry green meteor it was probably because it had a high proportion of magnesium in it.
'Source of light When meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere, they collide with numerous air molecules. Those collisions sputter away the outer layers of the particle, creating a vapor of sodium, iron and magnesium atoms. In subsequent collisions, electrons are knocked into orbits at larger mean distances from the nucleus of the atoms. When the electrons fall back to their rest positions, light is emitted. This is the same process as in gas discharge lamps. colors of a meteor
Colors of meteors The color of many Leonids is caused by light emitted from metal atoms from the meteoroid (blue, green, and yellow) and light emitted by atoms and molecules of the air (red). The metal atoms emit light much like in our sodium discharge lamps: sodium (Na) atoms give an orange-yellow light, iron (Fe) atoms a yellow light, magnesium (Mg) a blue-green light, ionized calcium (Ca+) atoms may add a violet hue, while molecules of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) and oxygen atoms (O) give a red light. The meteor color depends on whether the metal atom emissions or the air plasma emissions dominate.'
Or it was an alien.
I'm surprised that ionised magnesium emits a blue-green light. When it burns, the light is bright white, and the street lights were silvery-white.
I was also surprised. The American meteor society websit agrees with you and says magnesium is blue/white and nickel is green but it is the only one of about four sources I read that said that. The others all agreed on magnesium.
Anyway, the colour is down to the composition of the burning meteor, it's speed through the air and interaction with the air on entry.
Comments
Apart from during an eclipse, Venus is only ever visible around dusk and dawn because it's close to the sun than we are. It's the same for Mercury, whereas all the other planets are further away from the sun than us and so, assuming they are in the right part of the sky, visible all night long.
The moon sets around 00.36, so anything after midnight and you won't see it.
The forecast tonight is a clear sky and best time to view is from 7pm onwards.
If you imagine you're coming out of the Beehive (soberly of course), turn and look directly over the Coop and you should see it in the South.
Mars, Jupiter and Venus are all visible up in the same area as the moon, with Uranus in the background, but you would need a good telescope to see that.
There's a lot of street light pollution there but most of it should be visible.
PS You won't really need a step ladder :-)
Will be a new one to add to my repertoire for coming home late, and drunk.
"Sorry I'm late luv, went to the pub so I could see Mars!"
C L A N G E R S
Charlton Life Association of Night Gazing Enthusiasts Reviewing the Stars
'Source of light When meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere, they collide with numerous air molecules. Those collisions sputter away the outer layers of the particle, creating a vapor of sodium, iron and magnesium atoms. In subsequent collisions, electrons are knocked into orbits at larger mean distances from the nucleus of the atoms. When the electrons fall back to their rest positions, light is emitted. This is the same process as in gas discharge lamps.
colors of a meteor
Colors of meteors The color of many Leonids is caused by light emitted from metal atoms from the meteoroid (blue, green, and yellow) and light emitted by atoms and molecules of the air (red). The metal atoms emit light much like in our sodium discharge lamps: sodium (Na) atoms give an orange-yellow light, iron (Fe) atoms a yellow light, magnesium (Mg) a blue-green light, ionized calcium (Ca+) atoms may add a violet hue, while molecules of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) and oxygen atoms (O) give a red light. The meteor color depends on whether the metal atom emissions or the air plasma emissions dominate.'
Or it was an alien.
Anyway, the colour is down to the composition of the burning meteor, it's speed through the air and interaction with the air on entry.