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Skywarden,
Ursa Astronomical Association
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Ursa Astronomical Association

The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket was seen on Saturday

13.8. In terms of getting plenty of footage, the timing of SpaceX's rocket launch couldn't have been better as it happened on the night of Perseids maximum. There are currently in Skywarden half a hundred sightings from the southern coast to Rovaniemi of this phenomenon that was seen seen for a couple of minutes shortly before 2 am in Saturday. Here are pictures by Jari Luomanen (left) and Esa-Pekka Isomursu from Tampere and Oulu.

13.8. Pictorial observations of a rocket launch »

August full Moon photos

12.8. Moon looming low at the horizon is always an evocative sight. Here is a selection of views of the full moon that have arrived at Skywarden in the last few days. The blue background photos were taken by Tuomas Salo, top left by Kari Hassisen and bottom right by Mikko Peussa .

Moon since July »

In July, halo variety was on the cards

11.8. Although there were a commendable number of 29 halo days in July (variation 22-30 in 2012-2021), the number of different halo forms remained low as only eleven were seen (variation 16-25). Rarities were observed on five days (variation 1-13), in four cases they were 23° plate arcs, in one case 120° parhelion. Petri Martikainen was the most active rarity observer, catching them on 4 days (his photo here shows 23° plate arc). Paula Mattila and Jukka Oravisaari caught most often halos, on 19 and 12 days.

Hello July »

Plenty of planets photographed

11.8. Close-up portraits of the planets have been coming to Skywarden since mid-July. The pictures of Tauno Ihalainen, Antti Taskinen and Ari Haavisto have been selected, from top down, for Saturnus. Ihalainen's picture of Jupiter is on the top right, Taskinen's picture below it and Lasse Ekblom's picture on the left - whose production also includes a picture of Mars.

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A fireball at night, brighter than the venus

A fireball at night, brighter than the venus

13.8.2022 at 01.10 - 01.10 - Leppävirta (III)
Pasi Tuomainen, Ursa (Itä-Suomi)

Two evenings of Perseid hunting, you ended up with a dozen small streaks, and this one was clearly the brightest.

Comments: 1 pcs

Observation information »

Perseids

Perseids

13.8.2022 at 00.00 - 01.45 - Hamina (II)
Matias Takala, Kuopion Saturnus

Regardless, I thought I'd give it a try if you could see the Perseids. It was pretty bad, apparently the sky was somehow cloudy and the seeing wasn't the best. The moon was full, fortunately low, but it still hindered observation. I think I saw a dozen Perseids myself, I caught three on camera. It wasn't a spectacle.

Images: 4 pcs • Comments: 1 pcs

Observation information »

Rocket-related clouds

Rocket-related clouds

13.8.2022 at 01.53 - 01.56 - Vaala (IV)
Jarmo Moilanen, Ursa (Pohjois-Suomi)

I was looking at the Perseids when this came into view. Illuminated clouds were visible around the bright point-like object throughout the flight. Towards the end of the flight, the target brightened for a moment. After that, the track seemed to disintegrate, but it's hard to say what exactly happened. The main picture has all 12 time exposures of 13 seconds every 15 seconds. The second picture shows 100% of the five frames of the phenomenon itself with the times. The bright star at 22:55:15 UT in the picture is Vega. At 22:55:58 UT the image shows the mentioned brightening. The camera'...

Images: 2 pcs • Comments: 2 pcs

Observation information »

Perseids

Perseids

13.8.2022 at 00.07 - Tampere
Jari Luomanen, Ursa (Länsi-Suomi)

It was nice to have even brighter sparkles than these last night. One appropriately hit the photo area, and even more, posing with a yökkösrafta.

Images: 2 pcs • Comments: 2 pcs

Observation information »

Rocket-related clouds

Rocket-related clouds

13.8.2022 at 01.55 - 02.00 - Lahti (V)
Jarkko Lampiselkä

The light phenomenon was discovered by chance when searching the sky for the North Star, Otava and other constellations. The phenomenon was observed in the middle sky around the North Star, from where it flew lazily in the north direction until it disappeared behind the forest on the horizon. The speed of movement seemed constant, and no significant changes in direction occurred. #raketti: Falcon 9

Images: 3 pcs • Comments: 1 pcs

Observation information »

Rocket-related clouds

Rocket-related clouds

13.8.2022 at 01.51 - 01.56 - Yläne (I)
Leena Väinölä

Satellite launch (stacked 13 images with 25 s exposure) #raketti: Falcon 9

Comments: 2 pcs

Observation information »

Rocket-related clouds

Rocket-related clouds

13.8.2022 at 01.58 - 02.00 - Kankaanpää (I)
Hiski Eronen

A Falcon 9 rocket was presumably moving from south to north. The amount of light varied from time to time and smoke rings appeared one after the other. It took about 30 seconds. #raketti: Falcon 9

Comments: 3 pcs

Observation information »

Perseids

Perseids

13.8.2022 at 00.05 - 02.00 - Rusko (IV)
Mikko Peussa, Ursa (Länsi-Suomi)

The Perseids were visible to some extent and finally the rocket launch and its impressively spectacular passage through the sky stole the whole show. The first and second pictures are of the same Perseid, which left an afterglow in the sky for a while. The triple image has a severely cropped gif animation of it. In the quadrilateral, Perseid appears next to the rocket cloud.

Images: 6 pcs • Comments: 10 pcs

Observation information »

Rocket-related clouds

Rocket-related clouds

13.8.2022 at 01.50 - 02.00 - Isojoki (III)
Akseli Ketola

A rocket that flew from southeast to northwest. Photos with the phone's camera. 1. Image: rocket coming towards. 2. The rocket passed. (Note Otava.) 3. The tracks just before disappearing behind the clouds. #raketti: Falcon 9

Images: 3 pcs • Comments: 1 pcs

Observation information »

Rocket-related clouds

Rocket-related clouds

13.8.2022 at 01.55 - 01.58 - Tampere (IV)
Jari Luomanen, Ursa (Länsi-Suomi)

It was even a great incident. In the second picture, one Perseid can also be seen. And there are dim Nightingales too. For a moment it looked as if the source of light had sped through a fog or a cloud. Of course, it wasn't about that, but it was a really great effect. The same impression was made by the ring created under the brightest point of light, which was visible for a while. I didn't get a picture of that. The images are cropped from the frames shot with a 14mm ultra-wide angle. Fortunately, this much was saved. #raketti: Falcon 9

Images: 3 pcs • Comments: 2 pcs

Observation information »

Skywarden is an observation system maintained by Ursa Astronomical Association. Available observation categories consist of different astronomical and atmospheric phenomena. You are welcome to participate even though you are not member of any Finnish astronomical associations. Easiest way to start browsing observation is by selecting observations with images and stories on the left side of the screen. Answers to your questions about the system can be found from FAQ -page.