BATS review of the year 2015
Created | Updated Dec 29, 2015
Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth - Ptolemy
BATS review of the year 2015
It seems hard to believe 2015 is almost over bar the celebrating. It's been a mixed year for me personally, but one of my life's joys remains astronomy. I managed only three edited entries for h2g2 and two of those were astronomy-related: The Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) published on 29 June and The Caldwell Catalogue which went live on 27 July. I am especially proud of the Caldwell Catalogue as it took me such a long time to put it together (over seven years on and off) and I linked to many magnificent space images. It was illustrated for me by the amazing FWR who created an outline of my dear old friend Sir Patrick Moore with stars on a space backdrop.
What a year 2015 has been for astronomy! Images of Pluto and Charon are uppermost in my mind and then there was the news that Pluto is larger, although less dense, than fellow dwarf planet Eris! NASA said they were going to announce exiting news, then came their confirmation of liquid water on Mars, which brought salty tears to the eyes of some wistful astronomers. This year a total lunar eclipse combined with lunar perigee (aka Supermoon) to create a photographer's dream come true.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot is still shrinking although it's more orange than red, but then, so is the Red Admiral butterfly! They were probably both called 'red' because, when they were given names, there was no word for the colour orange. Speaking of colour, I am going to finish my annual review with a spectacular enormous aurora, brought to our eyes by photographer Ole Salomonsen of Tromsø Norway. We are in your debt, sir.
December 2015 Diary Dates
Comet Catalina will be viewable for Northern Hemisphere astronomers all month. The comet has a double tail and may be 4th magnitude brightness by early December. It will spend most of December climbing up
Virgo then on through Boötes, seemingly on a collision course with that constellation's luminary, the orange giant star Arcturus. Of course they are not really going to collide, it will just look that way from our perspective. The comet originated from the Oort Cloud beyond dwarf planet Pluto in our own Solar System, and 1st-magnitude Arcturus is over 36 light years distant.
- 01 (predawn): Jupiter, Mars and Venus form a line
- 01: The 1.1km-wide asteroid 2007 BG29 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 04: The Moon passes 1.8° south of Jupiter
- 05: The Moon is at apogee (furthest from Earth)
- 05: The Moon passes 0.1° south of Mars
- 05: The 31m-wide asteroid 2015 XP will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 06: All four Galilean moons will be on one side of Jupiter
- 06: The 24m-wide asteroid 2015 WA13 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 07: The Moon passes 0.7° north of Venus
- 07: The 80m-wide asteroid 2015 WF13 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 08: The 80m-wide asteroid 2015 VZ145 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 08: The 39m-wide asteroid 2015 XC will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 09: The 18m-wide asteroid 2015 XV1 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 11: New Moon
- 11: The 1.1km-wide asteroid 1998 WT24 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 13/14: Geminids meteor shower peak (and no moonlight to spoil)
- 14: The 25m-wide asteroid 2015 XX128 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 15: The 15m-wide asteroid 2015 XN55 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 17: The Moon passes 3° north of Neptune
- 19: The Moon passes 1.2° south of Uranus
- 19: The 28m-wide asteroid 2015 XE1 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 21: The Moon is at perigee (closest to Earth)
- 21: Mars passes 4° north of Spica (alpha Virginis)
- 21: Winter solstice (Northern Hemisphere)/Spring equinox (Southern Hemisphere)
- 22: Ursids meteor shower peak
- 23: The Moon passes 0.7° north of Aldebaran (alpha Tauri)
- 24: The 24m-wide asteroid 2011 YD29 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 24: The 1.8km-wide asteroid 2003 SD220 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 25: Full Moon - the Cold or Long Nights Moon according to folklore
- 29: The 1.5km-wide asteroid 2008 CM will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 29: The 28m-wide asteroid 2015 XV351 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 30: The 30m-wide asteroid 2015 XC352 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 31: The 17m-wide asteroid 2015 YT1 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 31: The Moon passes 1.5° south of Jupiter
- 31: Comet Catalina has a close encounter with Arcturus
Chat about your celestial observances at the H2G2 Astronomy Society. Comment on anything in this edition of Babe Among the Stars by starting a new conversation below.
