Cyprus-Forum.com

[astroboy]

epage, most propably u saw an iridium satellite. Iridiums are famous for these flashes cause of there extra reflective solar panels that light up when they face the sun. You can verify this by going to heavens-above.com, find the location u were and search for iridium flares around that time.

[epage]

Do these satelite's zoom thru the sky as fast as a rocket would? Cause that's what this thing did..

[astroboy]

they seem to be faster than aeroplanes, then again what if it was a shooting star?

[epage]

It very well may have been a shooting star, it was just travelling so fast and so very bright. I've spent a lot of time up north in Canada and have never in my life seen a shooting star that bright white! It truly was unbelievable, I wish you had have seen it.

[astroboy]

Here are some photos from an event we had on July 2nd in Akropolis Park Nicosia...lots of kids got their first glimpse through a telescope that day..the questions they asked were outstanding...

[epage]

I was told by a friend that on the 12th of August (tomorrow) you are able to see a shooting star here every 2 minutes... has anyone else heard this?

[astroboy]

epage

Tomorrow at the early morning hours that is Saturday night going to Sunday morning and approximately at 02:00 - 03:00 am an annual meteor shower called "Perseids" reaches its maximum. Unfortunately there will also be a bright Moon on the sky and so we will not be able to see most of the shooting stars. Best chance to view them is to head away from the city lights and expect to see about 1 shooting star every 2 minutes as your friend correctly said. If there had been no Moon, we would have seen tens of times more shooting stars.

Tip: Try catching some of them before the Moon rises. Dont expect a "wow" phenomenon, just quite a bit heavy traffic on the skies!

[simonp]

Very interested to read these postings and only a pity I'm doing so now when we've just returned from Cyprus; I would have liked to have come to the recent star party.
We have a holiday home at Mazotos near Larnaca. I love the fact that if I avoid the street lights close by I can look up from our back garden & see the Milky Way. I've never seen the Milky Way from our Hertfordshire home due to the light pollution.
Other thing I love about star gazing in Cyprus is that it can be done in shorts & T-shirts under skies that get dark by about 8.00pm or so. Again, in UK in the summer it doesn't get properly dark until very late & in the winter when it's dark very early it's too cold to spend much time outside looking upwards!

I have a telescope here in UK which I've never properly mastered & now sits in cupboard under stairs. I plan to bring it to Cyprus & leave it there as I'm sure it'll get more use than at present but for the moment whenever we come out we're bringing more practical things like hoovers etc for the house so have to wait until these things are done first.

Kind regards,

Simon.

ps haven't learnt Greek so will need to wait for English language website!

[astroboy]

simonp

Mazotos is an amazing area for stargazing! The only problem is the often high humidity of the area. I did some observing from a camping site at the beach near the camel park last winter and i was amazed!
The english version of the site might take some time, as i am now too busy astrophotographing! Next time you're in Cyprus do not hesitate to contact me for a star party!

Here are my latest shots of our beloved Moon upclose.. Vallis Alpes with crater Plato and Mt. Apennines (all taken with simple point-and-shoot digicam of 115cyp worth!)

[repulsewarrior]

...happy news for star gazers.

Selected as one of the best astronomy projects of the world, it is conducted by scientists, amateur astronomers and educators with the aim “to raise awareness of our position in the universe and respect and understand the importance of the cosmic light coming down to Earth”.

Kition Planetarium & Observatory has inaugurated its new year-long project ‘Cosmic Light Reaches Cyprus 2016’ with a grand opening that took place on January 30.

And there will also be additional activities specifically related to the project that will be held across the island in the form of workshops, lectures, planetarium shows, telescope observations and other activities, with the aspiration to promote astronomy and science from nursery to university level; to organised groups; mass media; tourists and the general public, by “using astronomy as a tool for development”.

http://in-cyprus.com/exciting-year-star-gazing-events/

For more details, contact George on: 99991111, or visit the website: http://www.astronomycyprus.eu, or the Facebook Group: Kition Planetarium & Observatory where you can find links to all the event pages.

cheers!