STEP OUT INTO THE SOLAR SYSTEM, EXPLORE THE MILKY WAY, AND TRAVEL TO GALAXIES BEYOND -- SLOOH BRINGS THE UNIVERSE TO YOU!

LUNA … The Moon reaches First Quarter today, so we can expect to see continued brightening towards next weekend’s Full Moon. This week Luna rises in the afternoon and sets in the hours between midnight and sunrise. Take advantage through the SLOOH telescopes to learn more about the many intriguing features of the moon, including various craters, mountain ranges, and Apollo landing sites. For backyard observing, Luna slips within 3 degrees of Saturn on Monday night and within 1 degree of asteroid Iris on Thursday night

COMETS & ASTEROIDS … Comet Boattini is now being reported very close to 6th magnitude, but you’ll need to hurry if you intend to catch a look through Slooh’s Teide scopes. This comet, currently in Hydra, is quickly headed into the southern hemisphere skies.

METEOR SHOWERS … Two long-term showers are gracing the constellation of Ophiuchus right now, the Northern and Southern May Ophiuchids. Both are very light showers, so a very discerning eye is required. Watch for streaks in both SLOOH All-Sky cameras, Chile’s on the Chile Conditions page and Teide’s in the Teide Mission Interface. And don’t forget to share any sightings with your fellow members in the Forum.

PLANETS ... Saturn with Regulus, and Mars with Castor and Pollux, continue to traverse the sky together, offering SLOOH wide-field and backyard observing opportunities. There will be three well-timed transit events with Jupiter this week – Watch for Io’s shadow on Tuesday and Thursday nights and Europa’s shadow on Wednesday night. While Mercury is currently too low for the SLOOH telescopes, you can watch for it on your own WNW horizon just after sunset this week. A pair of binoculars will reveal the asteroid Ceres skirting Taurus cluster NGC 1746 just two degrees to Mercury’s upper left by mid-week and into the weekend.

STARS ... Supernova SN 2008ax remains bright in the Cocoon Galaxy; and last year’s SN 2007sr is still apparent in the Antennae Galaxy. Both galaxies are actually interacting pairs and both can be found in Slooh’s Editor List.

Nebulae ... Clouds may be the ire of astronomers in local skies, but they are a thing of great beauty in deep space. Consider the vast, bright molecular complexes of Sagittarius, like the Lagoon and Swan Nebulas, or even the coldest and darkest clouds known, such as the Snake and InkSpot Nebulas. You can see all four through SLOOH’s regularly targeted missions in the Editor dome.

Tune into nightly SLOOHRadio to learn about all of these objects – what they mean to us, what scientists are learning about them, and how you can see them through the SLOOH telescopes and even from your own backyard.