Galileo's Camera

2013 was (supposedly) an awesome year for astronomy. I actually thought it should've been called the Year of Comets with 5 comets going past. 2013 also came in with two solar eclipses, one annular and a rare hybrid eclipse (the last hybrid solar eclipse prior to 2013 occurred in 2005). Looking forward to 2014, here's what we got: Meteor Shower Jan 3,4 Quadrantids meteor shower. Planetary Event Jan 5 Jupiter closest to earth. A 10x or higher binocular should be able to resolve the Galilean moons while giving a good photo op for the astrophotographers. Comet Mar 24 Comet Holmes perihelion. In 2007 Comet Holmes had a major outburst. The comet may not be that prominent this time around. Planetary Event Apr 8 Mars closest to earth. Eclipse Apr 15 Total lunar eclipse. Unfortunately not visible to Sri Lanka. Meteor Shower Apr 22,23 Lyrids meteor shower. Eclipse Apr 29 Annular solar eclipse. Again, not visible to Sri Lanka. Meteor Shower May 5,6 Eta Aquarids meteor shower.

Moon and Venus - 06th Dec 2013 This was the view from my balcony when I returned home today, and that is what prompted me to take the next photo. The photo above, is very unlikely to be what you think it is. No it's not the Moon. It is in fact the planet Venus. Sometimes called the twin sister of Earth, Venus is the closest planet to Earth and also the closest in size. Due to the similar size and density, gravity on Venus is also pretty similar to that of Earth. But the similarities end there. The atmosphere of Venus is 96% Carbon Dioxide and is 92 times denser than that of Earth. The surface temperature of Venus is thought to be about 462 C. Due to the close proximity to Earth, Venus displays very prominent phases. In fact Venus and Mercury are the only two planets that display a full range of phases like the Moon. Contrary to intuition, Venus appears the brightest when the phase is a crescent as opposed to full. Venus is right now in its brightest peak. It will