Things to look forward to in 2015

A new year starts today, a year filled with exciting astronomical events to look forward to. In this photo you can see the Great Lake Monster looking at a solar halo, an event we hopefully see more of during the winter ahead.

First out is comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2), it will soon be visible here in northern Sweden and I'm really looking forward to see and take photos of it. It should double in brightness by mid-January 2015. This puts it just above the threshold for naked-eye visibility and makes it possible to record the comet using only a camera--no telescope required.

One of the biggest astronomical events during 2015 is the total solar eclipse on the 25th of March. In the northern Scandinavia more than 90% of the sun will be covered. To see the total solar eclipse you need to travel to Svalbard or Faroe Islands.

Another great event is the Blue Moon on July 31. A Blue Moon is when there are 2 full moons in one Month. A full moon occurs roughly every 29.5 days so on rare occasions there are two full moons in one month, then the second full moon is called a Blue Moon.

Also NASA's New Horizons will arrive at Pluto, lunar eclipse, meteor showers and more. I'll keep you posted as we're getting closer to them during the year.

Happy new year and clear skies!

Stostjödjursmånen

Enligt den nordamerikanska bondepraktikan kallas fullmånen i augusti för Störmånen (Efter fisken). Detta för att det var den lättaste fisken att fånga i de stora sjöarna under denna månad. Vi i Jämtland har vår egen stora sjö, Storsjön. Så för att hedra denna augustimåne fick vårt Storsjöodjur omfamna denna måne av de stora sjöarna.

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Acording to the North American Farmers Almanac, the fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of August Moon, Full Sturgeon Moon. Since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month

Here in Östersund we have our own Great Lake, Storsjön (Swedish and translates to Great Lake). We also have a lake monster in Storsjön called The Great Lake Monster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storsjöodjuret)

Here you can see the full moon of August guarded by our Great Lake Monster.