Iridium Flare

Lat night I went out to look for an iridium flare. I looked on heavensabove.com and found that I would be able to see one at 10:53. It was at an altitude of 37 degrees with an azimuth of 69 degrees. I never knew what an iridium flare was until this class and I have tried see a few before but for some reason haven't been able to see any. So last night I was really excited when I actually saw one. It was a very cool sight to see. It's weird to think that iridium flares happen so often and I have never seen one or even heard of one.

Sunset

I have seen quite a few sunsets throughout the semester but the ones that i have seen are when I was driving so i couldn't take any pictures. These pictures are from this past summer when I was on a vacation in the upper peninsula. It was at a place called sunset point and it was a gorgeous sight to see, definitely one of the best sunsets I have ever seen.

Sunrise

On my way to south Carolina I saw a beautiful sunrise. I was in the car so the pictures don't do it justice but it was very beautiful. I believe it was around 7 in the morning and the sun was rising in the east.

First Quarter Moon

Today at 4:00pm I noticed a first quarter moon lingering in the sky. I like seeing the moon during the day.

The skies of South Carolina

The past few days I have been in Hilton Head Island South Carolina. It is absolutely beautiful here and the skies have been beautiful as well. The past 3 nights the skies have been clear and it's warm so I can actually stay outside and look at the sky.
On April 4th around 9:30pm we were walking around harbor town. I showed my family how to find the north star by using the big dipper. I showed them Mars. I also showed them sirius, cassiopeia, and many other constellations as well. While we were looking at the sky I saw a shooting star. It went by so fast it was a lot different than a satellite but it was a wonderful site to see.
Tonight, April 5th my mom, my brothers girlfriend, and I walked down to the beach to look at the sky. We tried to see an iridium flare at 8:33pm at an azimuth of 143 degrees and an altitude of 63 degrees. We were unsuccessful in finding it so i will have to look another time. We did see 2 satellites. We saw GPS 2-05 rocket1 at 8:37 at an azimuth of 358 degrees and an altitude of 76 degrees. I have never seen a satellite before and nether had my mom or my brothers girlfriend. It looks like a moving star in the sky. It was really cool to see, we were on the beach yelling at each other look there it is there it is! It was pretty funny. We also saw the satellite Coronas F rocket. We saw this one at 8:46pm in the East at an altitude of 75 degrees. This one looked to be moving faster than the other satellite we saw.
The last thing we saw was Saturn. It was in the east between Leo and Virgo. When I looked at it through the binoculars I could faintly see the rings. It was really beautiful and exciting to see.
Overall it has been a very successful trip especially in my astronomy adventures

Full Moon

Last night on my way home from work around 9:00pm I was on I-96going towards Holland. I looked out the drivers side window to see the city of Grand Rapids all lit up with a beautiful full moon over the city. I wish I could have stopped to take a picture because it was an amazing site to see.

First quarter moon

It is 11:23 and I just walked outside to see how the stars were looking tonight and I noticed a beautiful first quarter moon. The moon was in the south west at an altitude of about 70 degrees. The sky was very clear tonight so I also saw a great deal of constellations. It was a beautiful night to star gaze now it just needs to warm up!!!