Astronomy Israel

Full Buck Moon over Mitzpe Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 07:20:14 +0000

Full Buck Moon rising over Hotel Beresheet in Mitzpe Ramon. July 28, 2026. Time for a star tour. To get information and book a tour: https://www.bookeo.com/astronomyisrael

Lunar Eclipse in Israel September 7, 2025

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 01:29:00 +0000

Israel will see a total eclipse of the moon on September 7, 2025. The eclipse begins on Sunday at 19:27 with the moon low in the eastern sky. Totality is at 21:12 and the eclipse ends at 22:56.

Eclipse timings in Israel

Eclipses of the moon always occur when the moon is full and the earth comes between the sun and the moon, causing the Earth's shadow to darken the moon. The September 7 full moon is known as the "Corn moon", its native American name. The next full moon is the Harvest moon, falling this year in October on Erev Succoth.

When the full eclipse begins the moon often turns red, caused by the refracted light of the sun along the circumference of the earth falling on the darkened moon. The Earth's atmosphere essentially acts as a lens bending sunlight onto the darkened moon. You are essentially seeing all of the sunsets on earth projected onto the moon at the same time. In the Internet era this has come to be called "The Blood Moon", very clickbaitey. And Cool!

A lunar eclipse is a very bright event (remember the moon is full), except for totality when the moon is completely darkened by the Earth's shadow, and can be seen everywhere and anywhere, even in light polluted skys, in Israel at the same times with your naked eye. However, any optical aid such as by binoculars or telescope enhances the view, especially during totality. Note however that the eclipse begins with the moon rising low in the Eastern sky, which will require a clear Eastern horizon to view. So you might want to join us in the open desert sky with a star tour starting at 7:30pm on Sunday September 7, just as the eclipse begins.

To get information and book a tour: Get information and book a star tour . Or find your own clear view of the East.

The lunar eclipse begins with the moon low in the Eastern sky.

We will be using our new digital telescope on our star tour, which will allow everyone to see a real time view of the eclipse as it progresses on our tablet screen. Other wonders of the night sky will be viewed as well.

Perseids Meteor Shower 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 00:05:00 +0000

The peak night of the Perseids Meteor Shower in 2024 is August 12 which is Tisha B'Av this year. There is also a waxing moon which gets bigger and brighter every night after new moon on the 6th. Its bright light blocks the light of dimmer objects like meteors. The moon sets before midnight up to the 12th but one hour later each night thereafter. Starting August 13 the moon is first quarter and starts getting quite bright, blocking the light of dimmer meteors. Best viewing of the meteor shower is after midnight. Most families don't stay through the wee hours of the night but you are welcome to.

The radiating effect of meteors all originating from a single location in the sky called the "radiant". In the case of the Perseids Meteor Shower from the constellation Perseus, the hero who rescued Andromeda.

So what will you see? On a typical year on the peak night many meteors. You probably read numbers of 60-100 per hour, making this one of the best meteor showers of the year. But honestly I have only seen that many once in my life from Mitzpe Ramon. Off peak, which is about 2:00am on the morning of August 13 (Tisha B'Av this year), there are still many more meteors seen than on the average night (maybe 1-2 during a 2 hour star tour, maybe none) but nothing like the peak. The more days off the peak the fewer number of meteors. In addition the waxing moon starts to interfere after August 13.

As you can see, the peak of the Perseids is very steep, rapidly falling off on either side of the peak on the early morning of August 13.

We will not be going out on Tisha B'Av, so the best time to view on our star tour is August 6 (new moon) through August 11. The closer to August 11 the better.

This year Mitzpe Ramon turns off its lights on August 11, although we go into the Ramon Crater to observe. August 13-15 are good but because of the waxing moon not as good as August 6-11. August 11 is the best alternative to August 12.

To get information and book a tour: https://www.bookeo.com/astronomyisrael

If you would like to see an animation of the way the Earth's orbit intersects the debris trail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which creates the Perseids Meteor Shower, click here. The Earth's orbit is blue: https://www.meteorshowers.org/view/Perseids

The most popular place to view the meteor shower is the Ramon Crater but literally tens of thousands of people come there on a good year. Well known dark locations are usually crowded everywhere.

Keep on looking up!☝🏻

Chanukah Star Tour Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 01:45:00 +0000

With Chanukah🕎 approaching the Festival of Light will not affect dark skies in Mitzpe Ramon. The candles will blaze bright but we will still have our dark skies. Take a little time to star gaze with Astronomy Israel and /Ira Machefsky, the Starman of Mitzpe Ramon™ 💫. We will have star tours at 6:30pm every night of Chanukah (7:30pm on motzei Shabbat), December 9-18.

This is the week of the peak of the Geminids meteor shower which puts on the best display of the year. Many shooting stars explode like fireworks at the end of their fall. Perfect for Chanukah. See if you can count at least 8! Peak night of the meteor shower is December 14-15 but is usually well seen throughout the week. Also featured will be the best telescopic views of Jupiter and Saturn. Come see Saturn before the rings turn edge on next year and disappear for 18 months. 😢

Star tours are suitable for all ages and are handicap friendly.

To get information and book a tour: https://www.bookeo.com/astronomyisrael

Star tour shenanigans will include light saber duels (what could be better on Chanukah), 2100 year old Chasmanoyim chocolate Chanukah gelt and a specially minted double flag Astronomy Israel/Israeli flag commemorative pin. (One per family until stock runs out.)

ASTRONOMY ISRAEL/ISRAELI FLAG COMMEMORATIVE PIN

To get information and book a tour: https://www.bookeo.com/astronomyisrael

Perseids Meteor Shower 2023

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 23:35:00 +0000

The peak of the Perseids Meteor Shower will occur on the nights of August 12 and August 13, 2023. The predicted peak is between the hours of 10:00AM IDT - 5:00PM IDT on August 13, daylight hours in Israel. So the night of Saturday August 12 and Sunday August 13 are equally good for peak observing.

For people who can't make it on peak nights I always am asked what will the shower look like on nights either side of the peak. The Perseids has a very sharp peak on a single night of 100 meteors per hour. On nights off peak the rate quickly drops to 1/10th that, around 10 meteors per hour. (See graph below.)

The x-axis shows dates of the month, the y-axis shows zenithal hourly rate (ZHR), which is the theoretical maximum number of meteors you can see per hour lying on the ground, staring straight up, and looking in all directions simultaneously. This chart gives the average numbers from 2014-2020. As you can see, the numbers fall off rapidly away from the peak. Nevertheless, experience shows that the Perseids do not disappoint around 5 days before and 5 days after the peak, while not putting on as good a show as the peak night.

Best viewing is always after midnight, and this year there is a very tiny, waning crescent moon rising at 2:00AM on the 12th and about an hour later on each succeeding night, so it will not pose a problem.

The Perseids has become a phenomenon and this year there are many programs, star parties, and star shows in and around Mitzpe Ramon. As they are mostly in Hebrew search for them on social media in that language or search engines in that language.

I will have my own star tours the week before and after the peak, but not on the night of the peak, August 12. In past years over 30,000 people have descended on Mitzpe Ramon for the peak night. Traffic can be jammed up on Rt 40 all the way back to Be'er Sheva. So, check Waze before heading down to see what your drive time will be. Because of all the people, cars, noise, camp fires in and around town I choose not to go out on the night of the 12th. I will be having my star tours on all other nights except Shabbat. To get information and book a tour: https://www.bookeo.com/astronomyisrael

If you do not already have accomodations reserved you will probably find them all sold out. Check for them on this web site at the Places To Stay tab.

For some unusual information about the Perseids see here: https://www.meteorshowers.org/?fbclid=IwAR2JlUAZynbq5PGAemxADzd1OV42Q9Obq5piXT1jNESyY3Fguu4OChAjPyo

Conjunction of Saturn and Venus

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 02:42:00 +0000

Saturn and Venus will be in close conjunction with each other on the night of Sunday January 22 and the rest of that week. Conjunction appears when the planets are closest together in our line of sight.

On January 22 the two planets are just 1/3° apart at sunset, less than the diameter of a full moon. On that night Saturn will be just above Venus. By the next night, January 23, Venus will have moved upward and will be above Saturn. It will be joined on the 23rd by a beautiful new moon crescent, making a spectacular tableau.

To see them look westward toward the sunset point starting at 5:30pm. Venus will be unmistakable in its brightness with Saturn very close by but much dimmer. Binoculars will help, but not necessary. You will only be able to see the rings of Saturn with a telescope, otherwise they are just points of light. Y 6:30pm they will have set and disappeared below the horizon, so you just have a 1 hour time window to view the beautiful sight.

During the conjunction you have the opportunity to see all 4 of the naked eye planets. To the upper left of Venus and Saturn is bright Jupiter, almost as bright as Venus and nearly overhead is bright red Mars. Mercury will not be visible, so 4 out of the 5 naked eye planets at once, not too shabby.

Saturn and Venus on January 22, 2023

Saturn and Venus on January 23, 2023

My poor smartphone photo of Saturn and Venus on Saturday night January 21 about 6:15pm, setting over Machtesh Ramon.

Jedi Star Man wishes you Happy Succoth!

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sun, 09 Oct 2022 13:20:00 +0000

Tau Herculids Meteor Storm Watch May 30-31

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Fri, 27 May 2022 00:15:00 +0000

Star trippers! Keep an eye out the night of May 30-31, Monday night through Tuesday morning. A heretofore unseen stream of meteors may create a meteor STORM, not shower during which dozens of meterors per SECOND may pummel earth. Or not. No one knows for sure until the earth crosses the path of Comet SW3. The peak, if it occurs, is expected at 8:00am IDT the morning of May 31, during daylight hours. (1:00am EDT ON May 31 in the US). So the most favorable time to view in Israel is closest to dawn the morning of May 31, before dawn's light. Good luck to the world on this event!

More details here: Tau Herculids Meteor Storm

Supermoon and lunar eclipse create King Tides on Sea of Galilee

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sun, 15 May 2022 21:56:00 +0000

Tonight's Supermoon (full moon at perigee, closest to earth) combined with a lunar eclipse (sun and moon in exact conjunction) create King Tides on Yam Kinerret (Sea of Galilee).

King Tides on Yam Kinerret

Total Lunar Eclipse in Israel May 16, 2022

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sat, 14 May 2022 22:38:00 +0000

Let's begin by saying the total lunar eclipse of May 15-16 is barely visible in Israel. The lunar eclipse in Israel begins just 14 minutes before the full moon sets. If you are in a high location looking westward you can see the beginnings of the eclipse with the moon very close to the western horizon starting at 5:27am in the early morning of May 16. The moon sets 14 minutes later at 5:41am. So just 14 minutes of a little slice of the moon eclipsed. You will need a perfectly clear western horizon and probably binoculars to view this.

Circumstances of the eclipse as seen from Jerusalem and an animation of it can be seen here: Lunar eclipse of May 16

Observers in the Americas, especially in the eastern US, will be able to see the entire eclipse starting at 9:32pm EDT on May 15.

Details for the US and rest of the world here: Details of lunar eclipse in US

Enjoy and share your experience and any photos with us.

Perseids Meteor Shower Star Party in Mitzpe Ramon 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 14:18:00 +0000

The Perseids Meteor Shower peaks again this year on the night of August 12 into the morning of the 13th. We will have special meteor shower star party pricing of 75nis/person on the peak nights of the 11th and 12th of August. The town of Mitzpe Ramon is supposed to turn off its lights on both those nights, but I'm not sure. We will be located at Silent Arrow, probably the best, easiest to get to dark sky location in Mitzpe Ramon. Just drive down Ben Gurion Avenue and keep going behind town and you will come to the sign for Silent Arrow. Contact them at info@silentarrow.com to see if there are any places left to spend the night. We will begin our meteor shower viewing there from 8:30pm-12:01am.

Last year because of Covid over 30,000 people came to the area. There was a traffic jam all the way from Beer Sheva into Mitzpe Ramon at night. I expect much the same this year, so plan to come early. Silent Arrow is not in the Crater where most people go, so it should be relatively isolated from the Balagan.

We will set up chairs but bring blankets to lie on and warm clothes. The desert gets cold at night. We will also set up telescopes for our traditional star tour, but meteor showers are whole-sky naked eye events, best viewed by lying down and looking up with no optical aid.

TO BOOK A TOUR CLICK THE BOOK NOW LINK:

Places to eat: https://www.insidemitzpe.co.il/

More information about the Perseids Meteor Shower:

http://www.astronomyisrael.com/2017/07/perseids-meteor-shower-2017-in-mitzpe.html

http://www.astronomyisrael.com/2018/07/perseids-meteor-shower-star-party.html

http://www.astronomyisrael.com/2020/07/perseids-meteor-shower-2020-in-israel.html

ISS flys over Israel 8:17pm, Friday June 4 at 8:17pm

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 19:46:00 +0000

For those who missed the Thursday night apparition of the International Space Station you get another chance to see it this Friday night at 8:17pm for 6 minutes. A very long apparition. It will be almost as bright as Venus at its brightest, moving very slowly across the sky. This apparition brings it very close to Polaris, the North Star. I use the app ISS Detector on Android. You can also get email alerts when it is visible over Israel at https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/tracking_map.cfm.

Watch the ISS fly over Israel skies, June 3, 9:04pm-9:08pm

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:46:00 +0000

The International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to fly over Israel skies tonight (June 3, Thursday) for 4 minutes between 9:04-9:08pm, appearing in the northwest, flying almost Overhead and disappearing in the Northeast. It is the brightest object in the sky so no optical aid needed. Don't miss this excellent apparition.

Moon Mars and Israel

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 19:19:00 +0000

The moon, Mars and Israel are close together tonight (October 29). See how red Mars is? They will be even closer together in the US at nightfall.

Perseids Meteor Shower 2020 in Israel

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 15:12:00 +0000

The Perseids Meteor Shower peaks on the night of August 12 - early morning August 13 this year and every year. On a favorable year 60-75 meteors per hour can be seen during peak hours. 2020 is a mixed year for seeing the shower, partly because a last quarter moon rises at midnight and partly because of Coronavirus restrictions.

Peak hours are after midnight when the radiant of the shower rises higher into the sky and when the earth is turning into the meteor stream. A bright moon, which rises at midnight this August 12-13, considerably reduces the number of meteors seen since many meteors are dim. The moon is kind of like nature's light pollution. Nevertheless, the hours of dark before the moon rises should still be quite good.

The meteors appear to emanate from a single location in the sky which gives the shower its name. This location is called the "radiant".

Perhaps the most complicating factor this year is Coronavirus restrictions limiting groups to 20 in number. Because of Mitzpe Ramon's dark skies and the star parties sponsored by the town there are usually thousands of people who come to Mitzpe Ramon for the peak night. That obviously doesn't work well this year. All guided activities require a reservation and groups are being kept small. If you come without a reservation for an activity you are on your own for finding a dark location and observing. Many guides in Mitzpe will be doing their own scaled down tours throughout the week. You can find almost all on TripAdvisor. On many years Mitzpe Ramon has turned off all the city lights to make the area dark everywhere. It is not doing so this year.

If you come on your own the Machtesh will be open for star gazing and meteor watching at this location as well as all the campgrounds in the Crater. https://www.parks.org.il/reserve-park/ramon/

The Machtesh is enormous, some 29 miles x 6 miles and can accommodate thousands of people.

This is your best bet for self-guided meteor gazing.

While my tour on the night of August 12 is booked, other nights around that date are still available. You can book one here:

The Israel Space Association is offering free activities in Mitzpe August 8-13. Reservations are required. All I know about them is at this link: https://www.space.gov.il/activities-and-events/132025

You can obviously go to any dark sky location in Israel to view the meteor shower. I am not familiar with them but the Judean Desert, the Galil, and the Golan come to mind. Har Hatayasim nature reserve close to Jerusalem is a good candidate in the Mercaz. The devil is in the details which I don't know from lack of personal experience.

The nights around the peak of the shower are also excellent for observing, you just don't see as many meteors.

HOW TO VIEW THE PERSEIDS METEOR SHOWER

You don't have to come to Mitzpe Ramon to view the meteor shower. All you need is a dark sky with an open horizon. Just sit back or lie on the ground and look up. Watch the skies with your naked eye. No optical equipment required. While you can watch in any direction, looking east if you can't look straight up, is usually best, as that is the direction the radiant of the shower rises in the constellation Perseus, which gives the Perseids its name.

BOTTOM LINE:

The nights of August 10-August 15 are best for viewing this year's Perseids Meteor Shower. The peak night is August 12-13. A bright, waning, last quarter moon will interfere with seeing the dimmer members of the shower after midnight, which will considerably reduce the hourly rate. The nights of August 10,11, 13, 14 and 15 may be a good compromise between intensity and darkness for viewers of the shower. The moon rises about 45 minutes later each night after August 12. Check the forecast for haze on the nights of August 11-15. Haze combined with a bright moon do not make for good meteor viewing.

METEOR, METEORITE, METEOROID:

Meteors are what most people call "shooting stars" or "falling stars", but they are neither. They are bits of rock and debris from outer space that fall to earth and burn up from the heat of friction with the earth's atmosphere. It's their light generated by friction with the earth's atmosphere that we see. Usually these rocks from space just fall randomly so we only see a few per night. But sometimes the earth passes through the orbit of an ancient comet, which disintegrates as it orbits the sun and leaves a debris trail behind. As the earth passes through this cometary debris trail scores of particles fall to earth simultaneously creating a meteor shower. Really good showers like the Perseids can have peak rates in excess of 100 meteors per hour. Of course most of these are quite dim, but many bright ones are also visible creating "Ooohs" and "Ahhhs" from the onlookers. The Perseid Meteor Shower results from debris left behind by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, whichh has a period of 133 years. It's last perihelion passage was December 11, 1992, so it won't be back for a while.

As the earth passes through the orbit of an ancient comet debris rains down on our planet creating a meteor shower.

Most meteors are quite tiny, minuscule even, about the size of a grain of sand. Of course, we don't see an object that small in the sky, we just see the tremendous light generated as they burn up from friction. They begin to become visible at heights of around 50 miles to 175 miles high. But sometimes enormous objects fall to earth. Most recently the Great Chelyabinsk Meteor fell to earth on February 15, 2013, over the town of Chelyabinsk Russia. It was 60 feet in diameter and weighed over 12,000 tons when it entered the earth's atmosphere at a speed in excess of 100,000 MPH. It was the largest meteor to fall to earth in over 100 years and was captured by numerous dashboard cameras. I put together a compendium of the videos on YouTube, and it is one of the most dramatic astronomical events of recent memory. It is worth watching. https://youtu.be/JB2eoQfOGBA

If meteors are large enough they can survive their fiery fall through the earth's atmosphere and hit the ground, as the Chelyabinsk Meteor did. They then change their name to meteorites and can be found, collected and researched. They are primordial pieces of the solar system, over 4 billion years old. The object while still in the sky is called a meteoroid.

I am often asked how much better the peak night is than the nights around it. Here's a graph of meteor frequency against the peak and the days around it. Of course this is the total number of meteors it is possible to see. We can't see them all since we can't see the whole sky at once and many are too dim to see under the sky conditions that may prevail.

Meteor frequency against days of the month on and around the peak of the shower

Go out and enjoy the sky. Stay safe by observing Coronavirus restrictions.

Comet Neowise above Machtesh Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 03:24:00 +0000

Comet Neowise above Machtesh Ramon. July 8, 2020 at 4:47am. Captured on a Redmi 8 smartphone in manual mode. Comet tail points toward the star Capella. Bright Venus to the right near Aldeberran in Taurus. The comet continues moving toward the sun making it harder to see in the morning dawn light. Around the middle of July it moves into the early evening sky, making it more convenient to see if it survives its close brush with the sun. Make the image bigger to get a better view.

How To See Comet Neowise

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 08:21:00 +0000

https://earthsky.org/space/how-to-see-comet-c2020-f3-neowise

Partial Solar Eclipse Visible in Israel June 21, 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 01:34:00 +0000

Exciting news for Summer Solstice Day. A partial eclipse of the sun will be visible in Israel on June 21, 2020. The eclipse begins at 7:26am IDT in the morning. Maximum eclipse occurs at 8:24am, when 34% of the sun will be covered by the moon. The eclipse ends at 9:29am IDT.

This is an annular eclipse, which means totality is never reached, as the moon is too far from the earth for it to completely cover the sun. A small annulus or ring of light remains lit when the moon covers the sun. You have to get to Sharm El Sheikh at the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula if you want to see the annular eclipse.

Eclipse map:https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2020-june-21?n=676

Partial phases of the eclipse and the annular eclipse are visible in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The eclipse ends before sunrise in the Americas. England is too far north to see it.

The easiest way to view it is by making a pinhole projector, which is a nice family project.

See here: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/make-pinhole-projector.html

How to make a very nice pinhole solar viewer:

https://www.davidchandler.com/2017/08/09/make-pinhole-solar-viewer/

WARNING: NEVER STARE AT THE SUN OR OBSERVE IT WITH OPTICAL EQUIPMENT UNLESS YOU HAVE PROTECTIVE FILTERS DESIGNED FOR THAT PURPOSE. YOU CAN PERMANENTLY DAMAGE YOUR SIGHT OR GO BLIND.

The Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, occurs just a few short hours before the eclipse begins at 12:43am IDT on June 21, 2020.

Astronomy Israel will be doing an open, free public viewing starting at 7:30pm Sunday morning, at Har Gamal, a beautiful Crater overlook in Mitzpe Ramon. It's just a short walk or drive from the hotels.

Har Gamal is at the red pin.

I Am Become the Minister of Astronomy

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Wed, 20 May 2020 03:23:00 +0000

Thank you, Bibi, for making me the Minister of Astronomy. Now where's my chauffeured car?

Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peaks January 3-4

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 03:21:00 +0000

“Celebrate the start of the New Year as the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks late evening of January 3 into the predawn hours of January 4 . Considered one of nature’s best fireworks shows, this New Year’s shower is known for fireballs with unusual colors and brightness.

With the moon being mostly out of the sky at peak time this year, skywatchers under dark skies with no light pollution can expect as many as 60 to 100 meteors per hour at peak time.

The Quadrantids get their name from the obsolete constellation – Quadrans Muralis – they appear to radiate out from in the northeast sky just off the Big Dipper’s handle.”

Geminid Meteor Shower peaks Thursday, Friday, Saturday December 12-14

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 12:52:00 +0000

The Geminid Meteor Shower is usually the best of the year, although it falls out during the cold winter months which makes it less popular than summer's Pereseid meteor Shower. This year it also falls just after the night of the full moon on December 12 whose bright light makes all but the brightest Geminid members less visible. Peak numbers are usually around 88/hour but this year because of the bright moon the numbers will be more around 20/hour or less. Nonetheless, this shower is famous for bright, colorful, exploding fireballs so it is worth going out to look for.

The Geminid meteors originate from asteroid 3200 Phaeton as debris from it burns up from the heat of friction in the earth's atmosphere. If you draw a line back from the path of the meteors they appear to originate from the constellation Gemini, hence the name. But they don't necessarily start there, and the best way to observe them is to just lie down on your back and look straight up at the sky. No optical aid is required or even desirable to see meteors. Just use your eyes.

The "radiant" of the Geminid meteors in the constellation Gemini. while the meteors appear to "radiate" of diverge from that point in the sky they don't necessarily start there and can be seen anywhere in the sky, Draw a line back from the path of the meteors and the point in the sky at which they converge is the radiant. Not all meteors will be shower members. If their path doesn't converge to the radiant they are just randoms or sporadic meteors that are seen every night,

The radiant of the shower in the constellation Gemini rises around 9:00pm local time in the northeast, two bright, nearly identical stars that are hard to miss. That's the best time to start watching. Peak hours are after 2:00am local time, but the nearly full moon interferes with seeing all but the brightest members of the shower. There are usually meteors from the shower that begin to become visible about a week before and a week after the shower. A dark sky is best for viewing meteor showers, although the nearly full moon will make all skies bright.

Come join us for a meteor shower star tour every night except Friday, December 13.

Rare Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on November 24

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Wed, 20 Nov 2019 04:43:00 +0000

November 24 - A rare conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. A conjunction of Venus and Jupiter will be visible on November 24. The two bright planets will be visible within 1.4 degrees of each other in the evening sky. Look for this impressive sight in the western sky just after sunset.

Rare Transit of Mercury, November 11, 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 02:31:00 +0000

A rare transit of Mercury will occur on November 11. The closest planet to the sun will be seen crossing the sun as a small black dot, the planet seen in silhouette, as it passes from the evening sky into the morning sky.

In this composite image provided by NASA, the planet Mercury passes directly between the sun and Earth on May 9, 2016 in a transit which lasted seven-and-a-half-hours. On Monday, Nov. 11, 2019, Mercury will make another transit, visible from the eastern U.S. and Canada, and all Central and South America. The rest of North America, Europe and Africa will catch part of the action. Asia and Australia will miss out. (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO/Genna Duberstein via AP

In Israel the transit will begin at 2:35pm IST. In the US the transit will begin at 7:35am EST. The entire transit will last 5 1/2 hours, so the sun will set in Israel as the transit is still in progress. The next transit isn't until 2032 and North America won't see another transit until 2049. There are only 13 or 14 Mercury transits visible from earth per century.

This should make for some wonderful photo opportunities, especially as the sun sets, IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT. You should never stare at the sun with your naked eye without proper solar filters. You can damage your sight permanently. If you have solar eclipse gasses you can put them on to try viewing the transit with your naked eye, but Mercury will be a very tiny dot and probably not visible without optical aid. Don't put binoculars up to your eyes with solar filter glasses on. The sun will melt them instantly and shine into your eye. All proper solar filters need to be in front of the main optics to block the light of the sun from entering. The same goes for your cameras. Without a proper solar filter in front of your lens you will burn out the camera's sensor. It will take a minimum of a 300mm lens to show the silhouette of Mercury against the sun. Bigger is better. As the sun sets with Mercury in transit it should make for some special photos from Machtesh Ramon.

Astronomy Israel (me) is setting up solar telescopes for viewing at Har Gamal in Mitzpe Ramon. We should be out by 3:00pm. Just put "Har Gamal Mitzpe Ramon" in Google Maps or Waze to find us. No charge for this event. You are welcome to join us for a star tour at 9:30pm Monday night. To get all information and book a tour click: www.bookeo.com/astronomyisrael

The Milky Way Trail in Mitzpe Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 01:19:00 +0000

I want to make people aware of a little-known, new special attraction in Mitzpe Ramon. I’ve lived here almost 10 years and didn’t discover it until last night.

There is a new paved, serpentine trail that leads from the KKL forest at the entrance to town to the edge of the Machtesh. It’s roughly 1/4 mile long. What’s special is that it’s paved with iridescent stones that glow in the dark. It’s like walking down the Milky Way to the crater’s edge. At the end there’s a surprise ( I won’t spoil it by telling you) and a great view of the Machtesh below. This effect is obviously only visible in the dark, but it looks like a nice walk in the day time. Benches and explanations posted along the way. You don’t need a flashlight but useful if you want to look around.

This would be a great jaunt on the way to Eilat or a must experience if you’re staying in Mitzpe Ramon. Truly a wonder. Handicap accessible and strollers and carriages can be pushed on the somewhat pebbly surface.

The Milky Way Trail at night in Mitzpe Ramon

The Milky Way Trail is located at the entrance to the Sculpture Garden. At the entrance sign bear hard right into the small parking lot. Don’t go down the gravel road.

Sculpture Garden
Israel National Trail, Mitzpe Ramon
Milky Way Trail Start

/Ira, The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon ✨

A Rare Friday the 13th Full Moon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 15:08:00 +0000

The full moon in September closest to the Autumnal Equinox falls on Friday the 13th in North America. But in Israel it falls on Saturday September 14th at 7:33 AM. Lucky us! This full moon is known as the Harvest Moon. Instead of rising about 45 minutes later every night as it usually does, it rises about the same time every night for the next 3 nights, just as the sun sets. The bright full moon thus allows farmers to continue their fall harvest after dark. Hence its name, “The Harvest Moon”. It should be a lovely sight. Go outside and watch it rise in the east about 6:45PM IDT.

The last Friday the 13th full moon in North America fell in October 2000. The next w. ill fall in August 2049.

This is also an Apogee full moon, occurring when the moon is the greatest distance from earth, or at Apogee. In Internet times this Perigee full moon has been dubbed a "Supermoon". Our Apogee full moo in September I guess should be called a "Minimoon". It should look a little smaller than a regular full moon, but still plenty bright. People are sometimes surprised at just how bright the full moon is. Go outside in the dark and see for yourself.