BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Look up - there are beautiful sights in the sky!

Yesterday morning as the Sun was rising, Venus disappeared behind the crescent Moon. This is called an occultation. Mohamad Soltanolkotabi caught Venus just before it was hidden in a superb picture taken from Tenerife, Spain.

He said,

You wouldn't see a sky like this just any old place. First of all, you'd need a dark sky site, and those are gradually disappearing. Randy Halverson of Dakotalapse took this photo in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Not only is he noted as a superb photographer, but he shares his expertise by running the occasional workshop.

I love that photo. Also today, I purchased some postage stamps - the planets. Have you seen them?

I love that picture too, it must be amazing to be able to see this in person!

Angie, I haven't seen the new stamps, though I knew they were coming out and have seen pictures of them.

For others who haven't seen them, here are Views of The Planets.

(Credits: USPS/Antonio Alcalá © 2016 USPS)

Nancy, I agree. So beautiful. My skies are beset with light pollution and/or clouds. I have seen the Milky Way from the fjords of Norway, but even there where the sky is dark (except for northern lights - hurray!) I'm on a ship that has its own light pollution.

Mona,

I am lucky for that because here there is no air pollution and almost no lights at night (it makes it scary to walk at night so i rarely do). The water stinks a lot, is not a beautiful color and there's a lot of things laying around the beach .

Wow, seeing the Milky Way in Norway! You are lucky !

Looking at this picture taken in Brentford in West London, you might think it was taken at the start of sunrise or the end of sunset to account for such luminescence. But in fact it was taken just after 2.00 a.m. when the sky was still fairly dark. The sky over the Thames is being lit up by noctilucent (night-shining) clouds.

Noctilucent clouds are the Earth's highest clouds, a layer of ice crystals forming near the edge of space. We can't usually see them, but sometimes in the summer the unseen Sun may be at an angle that means when it shines on this layer, the reflection is visible somewhere between 50° to 70° north (or south) of the equator.

Beautiful sight and picture!

There was an annular solar eclipse on September 1st. In an annular eclipse the full Moon doesn't quite cover the Sun, so it leaves a fiery ring. This eclipse was seen over a small part of southern Africa, but most was over water. Astrophotographer Luc Perror was on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. He took a frame every 4 minutes and ends as the Sun sets. (If you click to get the picture, click also on the picture itself to get the full picture.)

Image Credit & Copyright: Luc Perrot (TWAN)