Category Archives: Astronomy

Astronomy, Photography

Christmas night meteor caught on webcam

A still shot from a webcam captures a meteor as it enters the atmosphere. (ThorntonWeather.com)
A still shot from a webcam captures a meteor as it enters the atmosphere. (ThorntonWeather.com)

Anytime someone shares pics or video of a meteor in the Denver metro area, we check the Thornton Weather webcams to see if they caught it. As they only take a picture every minute, it is a very slim chance and they never had success – until last night!

This morning we saw a dashcam video from a Scott Cline who was traveling westbound / south on 285 (Hampden) near Federal. The video clearly showed a meteor falling nearly vertical. No big fireball but it was clear what it was.

We pulled up our images from our west facing webcam and as luck would have it, a picture taken at the same time caught the celestial entity entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Way cool!

As always, you can view our webcams here.

Astronomy

Total lunar eclipse to turn the moon red on Election Day 2022

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November 8. 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse Time and Phases. (NASA)
November 8. 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse Time and Phases. (NASA)

The second blood moon of the year and the last for us until 2025 is set to be the highlight in the sky early in the morning on Tuesday, November 8th.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon all align in a way that the moon is in the Earth’s shadow. Tonight’s total eclipse will see the moon in the darkest part of the shadow and will turn the moon red, hence the name “blood moon.”

The eclipse starts at 1:55am MST and will be done at 6:06am MST. Totality begins at 3:17am and ends at 4:42am. Maximum eclipse will be at 3:59am.

You don’t need anything special to see the event as it will be easily visible with the naked eye. Binoculars though will provide a closer look.

The one hiccup we might have here in Thornton in being able to view the show is cloud cover. Overnight tonight moisture is expected to increase leading to partly to mostly cloudy skies. Hopefully, however, there will be some breaks in the coverage allowing a view. You can check the latest hour-by-hour sky cover forecast here.

This will be the last total lunar eclipse visible for us until March 14, 2025 so if you can get out of bed to see it and Mother Nature cooperates, it is well worth it.

For more about the eclipse see:

Astronomy

Webcam captures the total lunar eclipse

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Just in case you missed it, our west-facing weather webcam happened to catch the “super blood blue moon.”  Certainly it isn’t as good as witnessing it in person but it does provide a cool look.  You can see the shadow of the Earth clearly obscuring the moon as the event progresses.  View full screen for the best view.

If you captured images of the celestial event, please share them with us so we can add them to our January slideshow.

Astronomy

Rare ‘super blood blue moon’ visible on Jan 31

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A cosmic event not seen in 36 years — a rare “super blood blue moon” — may be glimpsed January 31 in parts of western North America, Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Australia. The event is causing a buzz because it combines three unusual lunar events — an extra big super moon, a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse. Continue reading Rare ‘super blood blue moon’ visible on Jan 31 →
Astronomy

A Look At Voyager’s 40 Year Journey

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NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has been floating around uncharted space for 40 years now. It was launched on Sept. 5, 1977, followed by the launch of Voyager 2 a fortnight later. Together, these brave little space wanderers have traversed several light years to become earth’s most distant scouts. Being the only two man-made objects to ever… Continue reading A Look At Voyager’s 40 Year Journey →
Astronomy

Total solar eclipse mesmerizes America

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Sky-gazers stood transfixed across North America Monday as the Sun vanished behind the Moon in a rare total eclipse that swept the continent coast-to-coast for the first time in nearly a century. Millions of die-hard eclipse chasers and amateur star watchers alike converged in cities along the path of totality, a 70-mile (113-kilometer) wide swath cutting… Continue reading Total solar eclipse mesmerizes America →
Astronomy

Total Solar Eclipse in 1979 Ended With Moving Message

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Before Monday, the last total solar eclipse to pass over North America was in 1979, and one ABC News anchor had high hopes for the generation who would experience the astronomical phenomenon 38 years later. Frank Reynolds covered the eclipse on February 26, 1979. The broadcaster guided viewers as the eclipse approached totality, the period during… Continue reading Total Solar Eclipse in 1979 Ended With Moving Message →
Astronomy

Solar eclipse to fill small towns across America

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NORTH PLATTE, Neb. | This railroad town of 25,000 may be just a speck on flyover country, but for one day next week, North Platte will feel like the center of the universe. Millions of people are expected to gravitate toward rural America to view Monday’s total solar eclipse, a rare celestial event. The path of… Continue reading Solar eclipse to fill small towns across America →