Draconid Moondogs

[martinastro]

I was out this evening watching for Draconid meteors when I glanced behind me at the waxing gibbous Moon and spotted these wonderful moondogs. The western dog was very intense and sported bright colours with the naked eye and a 'tail' pointing to the W. The dogs were a great sight with a fainter pillar and partial halo all at the same time. The brightest dog was located very close to Jupiter which was the icing on the cake. A nice surprise on a very cold misty night. Incidently, I have seen no Draconids yet!

[John9929]

Lovely images Martin, thanks for the text but unfortunately nothing like that was visible from here.
Earlier I did see the ISS going over but it was very low, no chance of getting an image because of
the street lights. I think that's the last evening pass for a while. Well done on the dogs!

[martinastro]

Thanks John. I thought I would send the text anyway even though it was probably a local event. I reckon these are the best moondogs I have seen to date. It made that three hours standing in the cold more than worth it. I seen the ISS earlier, probably the faintest I have ever seen it. It was in the same bino field as Jupiter. I didn't take any images of it.

The previous 'best' moonbows I seen where these, from Oct last year, but I took them from the back door. I should have went out somewhere to make the most of it. I think the Oct-Dec period is a great time for lunar atmospherics.





Keep an eye out for moonbows over the next few nights.

[Tyler]

very cool martin! im lucky to see a sundog, let alone a moondog.

I just got done observing, and have finally concluded my scope is worthless...

[martinastro]

Thanks Tyler. Lunar atmospherics are a wonderful treat to catch. I hope you see some of these in the near future.

What happened your scope?

[Roman White]

What a bright moondog, Martin! Great shots  I have never seen that kind of dogs