Doostan, Some really cool stuff is happening over the skies here in the city of angels!!The first thing to occur is tomorrow night's total eclipse of the moon and for the second thing just read the article I posted on my blog..I hope you enjoy nature's spectacular shows :)~~~Mehran

Sky Report

The Griffith Observatory Sky Report
Anthony Cook
Astronomical Observer

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the two-week period ending Wednesday, September 5. Here is what's happening in the skies of Southern California:

We have two special events coming up during this period, a total eclipse of the moon during the pre-dawn morning hours of Tuesday, August 28, and a possible intense meteor shower just before dawn on Saturday, September 1. Before we look at the details of these events, let's cover at the more routine aspects of the sky.

The bright evening planet is Jupiter, now in the constellation Ophiuchus the Snake Bearer, and visible about a third of the way between the southern horizon and straight overhead (the zenith) as darkness falls. It is about 6 degrees north of the bright orange star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion. Jupiter sets at about midnight.

The red planet Mars, in Taurus the Bull, rises in the east at about midnight and is more than two-thirds the way to the zenith in the east-southeast when dawn starts. There is an annual internet rumor now making the rounds, which distorts the facts of the close approach of Mars in 2003, claiming that Mars will appear like a second moon on August 27. Without going into the details, please accept that this message is just nonsense. In fact, Mars never appears as anything more than a bright spot to the unaided eye.

The brightest planet, Venus, emerges from the glare of the sun into the morning sky on about August 26 when it is about 4 degrees above the eastern horizon half an hour before sunrise, and appears higher on following mornings.

The full moon on the night of Monday, August 27 and the morning of Tuesday the 28th, will travel directly through the Earth's shadow, producing a fine total eclipse of the moon, the first visible from Los Angeles since 2004. The passage through the fuzzy outer part of the shadow-the penumbra-begins at 12:52 a.m. P.D.T., Tuesday morning, although no fading will be observable until about half an hour later. At 1:51 a.m., a distinct bite will appear on the eastern side of the moon, marking contact with the inner shadow-the umbra. Over the next 61 minutes, the entire moon will move into the shadow. At 2:52 a.m., instead of the bright full moon, only an eerie red disk will remain. The color is caused by sunlight filtering through the Earth's atmosphere, and being bent, as with a lens, into the shadow. The moon starts to emerge from the umbra at 4:23 a.m., and will show penumbral shading for about half an hour after the moon leaves the umbra at 5:24 a.m.

Click on the image to view the full size of the picture

On Saturday morning, September 1, the earth may pass through a steam of particles cast off by a comet called Keiss when it passed the sun in about 83 B.C. The passage, set to occur at 4:37 a.m. P.D.T., may produce a brief but strong shower of bright meteors from the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer. Although no one can promise that the Aurigid meteor shower will occur, you will want to watch the sky from about 3:30 a.m. until dawn (at about 5:15 a.m.) since the result could be spectacular, and no similar chance to see a similar shower can be predicted for at least the next 70 years. The moon will be bright and high in the sky, but the brightness of the meteors may keep the numbers visible from being affected. Use a chaise lounge or other reclining chair to lie back and comfortably look nearly overhead and toward the northeast.

When the moon rises on Sunday, September 2 at 10:35 p.m., it will be passing through the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus. A telescope or binoculars will show several of the bright cluster stars be hidden (occulted) by the moon, or to suddenly reappear from behind the moon, for an hour after moonrise.