I think it’s time for another update on my Journey to Black Belt with Karate.

Training is going well – at the moment my fitness training at Adcock Park has been pretty consistent, which I’m happy with considering there was a few weeks where I wasn’t able to train. I’m still only doing the run once a week and would like to increase it to twice a week, but I’m finding it difficult with time. I might need to take my jogging stuff to work and do it during my lunch break.

Training Progress on my Journey to Black Belt

The screenshot above shows the progress of my training. Continue on to read more about my training for black belt, and about some upcoming competitions.

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Tonight (27th July) is a very busy night on Jupiter with 3 events worth observing and imaging.

All times in AEST.

1. The Wesley Impact Scar will be visible between about 10pm and midnight. It transits the CM at about 10:40pm.
2. Also tonight, at 11:24pm (lasting for about 8 minutes), Io’s shadow eclipses Europa.
3. Then later, at 12:14am (lasting for about 8 minutes), Io occults (passes in front of) Europa.

Io and Europa will be the two closest moons to Jupiter, to the West of the gas giant. You won’t be able miss them!

A very busy night worth staying up for. I’ll be out amongst it – skies will be clear, hoping for good seeing!

Good luck for steady seeing at your place!

After breaking the news of Anthony Wesley’s discovery of an impact scar on Jupiter on Monday morning (while I was waiting to board a plane to Melbourne), Friday night was my first opportunity to capture an image of the now famous “Wesley Impact Scar”, or “Bird Strike” (Anthony’s forum name is “bird”).

Jupiter, GRS and Wesley Impact Scar (right on the limb, top right)

The image above shows the GRS just past the Central Meridian (CM), and the Impact Scar is just coming into view, on the top right of the image.

I’d been in Melbourne all week and was very frustrated to have not been able to capture an image of it until now. On Friday night, 24th July, the impact scar was transitting while Jupiter was almost right overhead, but unfortunately the seeing conditions were only average, and deteriorated even further as the Bird Strike came more into view.

Please continue reading to see another image from the session.

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IISAC2009

The IISAC2009 star party is now accepting registrations. The event starts on Thursday, 15th October and goes for 3 nights. It’s a great opportunity to meet up and observe with like-minded amateur astronomers and make a lot of new friends.

Whether you’re an experienced amateur astronomer, or someone with a new interest in looking at the sky, the IISAC2009 star party caters for all levels – and you don’t need to own a telescope to come along. Night sky tours will be run each night by representatives of 3RF using small, medium and large telescopes.

It’s less than 3 months to go now, so put in your annual leave forms, talk to your family and make your booking by following the links on the IISAC2009 Info Page.

Book early to receive the early bird discount! I hope to see you there.

In breaking news, Anthony Wesley from Canberra, Australia looks to have captured a new impact spot on Jupiter.

Anthony’s image below shows the new dark spot in the South Polar Region (SPR) of Jupiter, at approximately 216° longitude in System 2. It looks very similar to the impact marks made on Jupiter when comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into the gas giant in 1994.

New Impact Spot, imaged by Anthony Wesley

You can read Anthony’s commentary about the image and see other images from the session at Anthony’s temporary website, and you can join in the discussions with Anthony on this forum thread on IceInSpace.

Dr John Rogers, Jupiter Section Director of the British Astronomical Association, seems to confirm opinion that it is an impact site. He says:

Congratulations on this amazing discovery — I agree with you and everyone else that this is an impact site, with a blur to the NW indicating the direction of the trajectory. The location was featureless in your even-higher-resolution image 2 days earlier.

In the latest news (9pm AEST), Glenn Orton of the JPL is imaging the site now with the NASA Infrared Telescope and he’s just told Anthony it’s an impact. So I guess that’s official!!

News of Anthony’s discovery has gone around the globe like wildfire today. It was all over twitter, it’s been published on the Bad Astronomy Blog, Universe Today, SlashDot (which killed Anthony’s webserver!), SpaceWeather and more.

The list below shows the times (in UT) when the impact mark will be visible again (generated in WinJupos by Hans-Joerg Mettig.

----------------------------------------------------------
2009 Jul 19 06:09 ( 216°) 16:05 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 20 02:00 ( 216°) 11:56 ( 216°) 21:52 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 21 07:47 ( 216°) 17:43 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 22 03:38 ( 216°) 13:34 ( 216°) 23:30 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 23 09:25 ( 216°) 19:21 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 24 05:16 ( 216°) 15:12 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 25 01:08 ( 216°) 11:03 ( 216°) 20:59 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 26 06:54 ( 216°) 16:50 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 27 02:45 ( 216°) 12:41 ( 216°) 22:37 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 28 08:32 ( 216°) 18:28 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 29 04:23 ( 216°) 14:19 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 30 00:15 ( 216°) 10:10 ( 216°) 20:06 ( 216°)
2009 Jul 31 06:01 ( 216°) 15:57 ( 216°)
----------------------------------------------------------

If you get the opportunity to observe or image this potential new discovery, please do so! This will be amazing for Anthony and wish him luck!

My heart-felt congratulations to my good friend Anthony. This recognition today is so well deserved after all his hard work over the last few years – he’s found himself in the right place, at the right time, with the right skills to not only capture this image, but to acknowledge that he’s just recorded something special and send it around to the right people.

I don’t think he’s slept at all today but I’m sure he’s living on adrenalin right now. I’m glad to have been able to help him spread the word about his amazing discovery.

Stay tuned for more news and images as it comes to hand.

Ralf Vandebergh captures incredible images of the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle and other Earth-orbiting satellites. I’ve always been a huge fan of Ralf’s work. It inspires me to try and capture better images of the ISS.

Ralf doesn’t have a website though, and so it can be difficult to find his work scattered throughout the various forums and observing lists he contributes to.

So with Ralf’s permission, I wanted to showcase his amazing images and compile a collection of some of his best images of the International Space Station and Space Shuttle, including the first ever image of a space-walking astronaut captured from Earth!

International Space Station, captured on the 25/09/2008

Please continue reading to see more of Ralf’s amazing photos, and to find out about the equipment he uses, how he captures these incredible images and to learn more about the man himself.

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Astronomy Calendar 2010 (front)

The Astronomy Calendar 2010 by Astrovisuals features 12 great images and provides a nightly guide to what’s visible in the sky, including moon phase, planetary positions, eclipses, lunar occultations, conjunctions and meteor showers. Includes summary of the year indicating best time to view the planets. Maps best for 25° to 45° south latitude.

Other Features

• Additional Star Maps show the planets in the pre-dawn and post-sunset sky, especially showing interesting conjunctions of the planets.
• Summary of the year indicating best time to view the planets and other events.
• Daily reminders of eclipses, conjunctions, and meteor showers.
• Designed for use in Australia and NZ. Maps useable in South Africa.

New for 2010: The calendar is 20% bigger this year (23 x 33cm, opens to 46 x 33cm) and features more images by some of Australia’s leading Astrophotographers.

To place your order, follow the instructions on the Astronomy Calendar 2010 Info Page.

2 of my photographs appear in the 2010 Calendar (Mr February and Mr August! :)) I use the calendar to help me plan for upcoming celestial events so I can get out there and take some beautiful photographs of conjunctions etc.

Astronomy Calendar 2010 (back)

Through IceInSpace, I’ve organised a bulk order of the Astronomy Calendar 2010, and you can now order your copy online for only $18 each which includes postage to your door (within Australia). You will receive a 10% discount if you order 2 or 3 calendars in the same order.

The Astronomy Calendar makes a great christmas gift! The benefits of getting your calendar through an IceInSpace bulk order are:

1. Low cost (10% discount if you buy 2 or 3 in the same order)
2. Delivery to your door (within Australia)
3. You support IceInSpace!
4. Three IceInSpace Stickers included free! (while stocks last)

To place your order, follow the instructions on the Astronomy Calendar 2010 Info Page.

It’s been a while between posts – I’m currently up on the Sunshine Coast for a work conference, and have finally had a few spare moments to finish off this image.

This image was captured on Monday morning, 6th July local time (5th July UT), in slightly above average seeing. It shows Oval BA still with a darker orange/red ring inside it, and the continuing upheaval of the NEB.

Jupiter and Oval BA

I’ve also got some images of the Ganymede + Callisto close approach that occurred on the same night, but I’m still going through that data and need to create an animation, so it could be a few more days yet before I’ll get a chance to post the final result.

Thanks for looking.