Archives for November 2016

Pittsburgh weather is favorable for viewing tonight’s Leonid Meteor Shower, but the Moon is bright in the night sky diminishing the show.  Leonids have been known to product dramatic “meteor storms” with hundreds of meteors per hour some years.  This year expect 10 -15 meteors per hour in ideal viewing between Midnight and dawn. Elevated rates will drop and then taper off in coming days.  Above is a depiction of the Leonid Meteor Shower Radiant in the constellation Leo ( from another year) showing where Leonid meteors appear to originate in the sky. If you cannot go outside, the Slooh Telescope Community will offer online viewing after 8 PM this evening.  To view tonight’s Leonid Meteor shower through the Slooh click here. The Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh offers Perseid Meteor Shower Viewing at its Wagman and Mingo Observatories at the Perseid peak in August.

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Please share your Moon photographs on our Facebook Page. Happy Moon Gazing!

The Supermoon occurs on Monday, November 14, peaking around 9 PM our time (8:52 EST). It will appear on our horizon just before 5 PM on Monday. Do not expect it to look dramatically different than any other full Moon. It will look big and bright like any full Moon near to the horizon. Monday’s Supermoon will be 14% larger and may appear 30% brighter. Yet you may not know it had you not been told to look for the “Supermoon.” Astronomers traditionally call this kind of moon a Perigee Moon. Term “Supermoon” comes to us from “astrology.” Since it was coined in astrology it has made its way into popular culture. Supermoon seems to be catchier than Perigee Moon. It occurs because the path of the Moon around the Earth is not a perfect circle but instead somewhat egg-shaped (elliptical). We say the Moon is 240,000 miles away but it varies. The actual distance varies over the course of the orbit of the Moon, from 356,500 km (221,500 mi) at the perigee to 406,700 km (252,700 mi) at apogee, resulting in a differential range of 50,200 km (31,200 mi). Interestingly the Moon is spiraling away from the earth at a rate of about 1.5 inches per year as detected by the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment which utilizes LASERS and mirrors left on the Moon by the Apollo missions. The Moon is said to be at perigee when it is at its nearest and at apogee when it is at its farthest. This particular “perigee” occurring on Monday is the closest perigee since [Read more…] about Supermoon Tonight, Monday, November 14, 2016