December 23-25 Pearl clouds have appeared above Finland. Type I mother-of-pearl clouds appear only as luminous belts, but on Christmas Eve, spectacular type II clouds were also observed that shone in bright colors. Tommi Friedman’s observation (pictured) demos the stunning contrast of type II pearls to ordinary clouds during late twilight. The findings are concentrated in Western Finland (see up-to-date map )

This year, several reasonable binocular comets were visible, mainly during the spring. Most observations were made from Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak. A thorough summary of the tail star observations has been published in Ursa's active enthusiasts Zeniitti online magazine. There are also a couple of articles in the same issue for photographers of celestial phenomena.

Esko Lyytinen and Janne E. Sievinen of the fireball working group have completed the modeling of the flight path of the Friday evening meteoroid. The body disintegrated and was destroyed for the most part in the atmosphere. Mostly small fragments ended up in the municipalities of Kinnula and Pihtiputa. Last night's preliminary assessment of the northern parts of Central Finland as a fall area proved to be very correct. Image source Stars and space / Jarmo Moilanen / Google Maps

22.12. After Friday at 8 pm, an eye-catching fireball flew over Finland. About 250 observations of the incident have arrived in the Sky Guard. The first observations extended from Salla to the Turku region (see the up-to-date map here). According to the preliminary modeling of the fireball working group Matias Takala, the flight of the piece has ended in the northern part of the province of Central Finland. Record your own observations on the fireball form .

14.12.-15.12. Victory Pitkänen caught the meteors of a gang of star flies for video in Kuusamo. "The sky became clearer in the morning and a surprisingly large number of star flights were visible in the morning," Pitkänen says. "All in all, there were twenty of them, more, and sometimes I was able to capture even consecutive pictures." A single great geminide fireball was photographed by Ari Kekki in Enontekiö.

11.12. On Monday at 7.13 pm, a fast-moving fireball was seen in a few clear areas of the southernmost part of Finland. About 40 reports of the phenomenon have been received. Lauri Kangas of the fireball team found a picture of a long flight from Ursa Tähtikallio's all sky camera, according to Matias Takala's analysis, the song has been extinguished between Karkkila and Tammela. According to Esko Lyytinen, the target practically burned out, some hits may have survived all the way down.

Fall 2017 # Bongal Bird Trail Challenge 8.9.-8.11. inspired the observation of the Milky Way and the dark sky on Sky Watch and Instagram. More than 400 pictures arrived at the Sky Guard, of which the jury chose the best sample from Mikko Väänänen from Kirkkonummi. Väänänen was awarded a star photography tripod . Observations at the Ursa Tähtikallio Observatory were drawn among all participants. The observation night was won by Denise Ramstedt from Inkoo.

16.11. in the evening at 6.40 pm an exceptionally significant fireball was observed in northern Finland. According to the modeling, a total of tens of kilos of meteorites survived from the fireball to the southern part of the Vätsäri wilderness, ie Kessi. If you saw the phenomenon, record the observation on the fireball form . Photo by Panu Lahtinen

26.10. a missile test by the Russian army that took place in the sky spread a blue cloud that was widely visible in Lapland. A ballistic missile fired from Plesetsk was involved in a nuclear war training operation. A rare blue cloud also captured images of Marja Karlsberg in northern Norway filming the northern lights.

The Orionide Meteor Flock reaches its peak on 20 / 21.10 night. During the hour, a dozen starbursts can be seen. The early descending Moon favors both a meteor swarm observation and last-minute participation on the weekend on 8 November. to the ending # bongal pathway challenge . For meteor observation, it is worth taking into account the start and end time of the absence and counting the star flights seen. The target is the Meteor Flock and the name is Orionids. Photo by Jyri Kosonen

17.10. the sun has appeared exceptionally red through the cloud curtain, and has attracted much attention. The Finnish Meteorological Institute informs that the redness is caused by the smoke of forest fires in Portugal and the sand dust of the Sahara, which have traveled over Finland with the air currents. Photo: Jorma Koski

22.9. The launch of the Soyuz-2 launch vehicle in the morning was also visible on the Finnish side. Soyuz launched a new GLONASS satellite into space. The GLONASS satellite family provides GPS-like positioning services for the Russian military. The victory Pitkänen from Kuusamo was one of the few who was awake late enough to see the launch. Photo Victory Pitkänen

11.9. The handsome fireball seen in southeastern Finland probably dropped a pile of space rocks deep into the Russian side, News and Space reported . More than 50 sightings were received by the Skyman in connection with the incident. You can still submit your own observations on the fireball form . Thanks to everyone who recorded the observation and contributed to the analysis of the case! Photo by Aki Taavitsainen and Jani Lauanne, Mikkeli Ursa

5.9. In September, Finland has seen strong browns that have lasted long after sunset. In addition to the pearlescent, yellow and red Rusko, brown rays have been seen in the evening and Bishop's rings during the day. Particles from forest fires in Canada have been identified as the cause of the phenomena. According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, these have traveled in the upper atmosphere all the way to Europe. Photo: Georg Kieninger.

3.9. The sunspot group AR2674 grew into an easy target for telescopes and binoculars. There were several eruptions in the comma group, but the northern lights caused them to remain below the cloud cover below Oulu. Note! The sun should not be viewed through any optical device without proper protection . Photo by Kari Tikkanen

Saturday 2.9. was seen e.g. A spectacular halo play in Pirkanmaa, Central Finland and Savo, which included rare halo forms, e.g. Parry's arc, Wegener's counter-solar arcs and 120 ° side sun. At its best, the play spread across the sky. Photo by Harri Kiiskinen

Asteroid 3122 Florence passed Earth at the turn of August-September at a distance of about 7 million kilometers. The passing of the small planet was also described in Finland. Photo by Rauno Päivinen

In the United States, a complete eclipse across the continent was observed on 21 August. The eclipse weather was favorable, at least in Oregon, Wyoming, Illinois, and Tennessee. Many Finns also traveled to the blackout line. Travelers are encouraged to make observations on the blackout form . Photo by Samuli Vuorinen

9.8. A cloud of holes was seen in the morning sky. Hole clouds arise from subcooled cloud droplets that may be on the frost side but have not yet frozen in the absence of suitable condensation cores. When condensing nuclei, such as small ice crystals, come into contact with the cloud, the droplets of clouds may begin to freeze outward from this point so that an annular opening appears to form in the cloud. Photo by Markku Sarimaa

7.8. partial lunar eclipse could be observed in large areas. At its deepest, the eclipse was 9:20 p.m. Observations of the partial blackout are collected using a blackout form . If the weather prevented the observation, you can also leave a negative observation on the form with the title "Maximum eclipse behind the clouds". Photo by Mika Yrjölä

3.8. shortly after one o'clock a bright fireball was seen in the skies of Southern Finland. The fireball also grabbed Mikkeli's Ursa and Panu Lahtinen's fireball cameras.

Observations on the rare case are still being collected using the fireball form . Photo by Aki Taavitsainen

31.7. Last night there was thunder in the Baltic Sea and it was clear in southern Finland. Enthusiastic observers saw a good opportunity here to hunt upper lightnings. In Mikkeli, Aki Taavitsainen and in Espoo, Panu Lahtinen, managed to capture fairy flash with automatic cameras. In addition, Panu Lahtinen (pictured) also managed to shoot fairy flashes with a SLR camera. This was reportedly the first time this had happened in Finland.

18.7. experienced the best storm day of the summer so far as thunderstorms travel across the country. Raija Koskinen captured several water statues in front of Utö with a mobile phone camera.

In addition to abundant lightning, funnel cloud phenomena and avalanche clouds, storm observations of summer hailstorms can also be sent to the Skywarden.

5.7. Although the night is not yet dark, there is enough for Skywardens to observe in halos, illuminating night clouds, storm phenomena.

Ursa's traditional Cygnus summer event will be held this year in Imatra on July 27-30 . Both beginners and veterans are welcome to a warm-hearted, family-friendly celestial phenomenon. Those who book meals and accommodation are kindly requested to register on 10 July. by.

The Forum of Stars and Space magazine (www.avaruus.fi/foorumi) was on Tuesday evening, June 29. a couple of hours in failure mode. The problem is now over. The forum informed all visitors to the page that the user has a "gate ban", although this was not the case. If the forum does not seem to be working, force the browser to refresh (with the Ctrl and r keys) or clear the browser cache. We apologize for the disturbance.

13.6. The pollen season of the trees is now at its peak. Pollen can also appear as small, colorful circles around the Sun. The star itself should be hidden behind some suitable edge for observation. In the south, the perimeters are already mainly caused by pine pollen, but in the north, the perimeter can still be caused by birch due to the cool early summer. Photo by Mikko Peussa.

The night cloud season began with Matti Helin's uncertain report on May 16. in the morning and several observers on May 16-17. with a dull play of the night. Observations can be reported using the Rare Cloud Types form . Negative observations made under good conditions (= no night clouds) are also useful in statistics. In the observation time notification, we expect time slots instead of individual times. Photo by Pentti Arpalahti.

14.5. On Mother’s Day, altocumulus rafts produced spectacular frames and clouds of color near the Sun. Photo: Veikko Mäkelä.

2.5. A modeling of the fireball seen this Tuesday morning at 0.44 has been published on the website of Stars and Space magazine. According to Esko Lyytinen, the fireball team, the song flew over Ostrobothnia. Fragments up to ground level were likely to survive from the site. A maximum of one kilo of space rocks fell east of Ähtäri. A handful of observations have arrived in the sky from the morning event. (Photo by Mikko Suominen / Celestia)

21.4.-22.4. a great late-season northern lights show was observed, mainly in central and southern Finland. "At first there was such a calm arc, but then it turned into quite a firing!" says Antero Ohranen from Kyyjärvi (photo). "The most spectacular for me this year," commented Jukka Kytömäki from Mäntyharju . "For a while there were fast-moving waves towards the zenith and at the same time below the spots."

Ursa's atmospheric group is once again organizing the traditional Haloh April observation campaign. During April, the sky will be monitored more intensely than usual. The progress of Haloh April can be monitored from the follow -up view . Observations of halos are reported on the Sky Watch halo form . Photo: Elle-Maria Peltomäki.

28.3. The flux of particles flowing from the Sun's Corona opening was visible as northern lights all the way to southern Finland. Northern lights activity is expected to decline in the coming nights. Observations are collected from the Northern Lights using the Northern Lights form . (Photo by Tuomo Arovainio )

26.3. The zodiac light generated by the dust at the level of the solar system has at times appeared to photographers even clearer than the winter Milky Way. On spring evenings, the zodiac light is in a favorable position relative to the horizon. However, the observations require a light pollution-free observation site. Mikko Ankelo photographed the zodiac light in Pyhäranta on March 19.

20.3. a bright fireball was spotted around 22:30 on Monday. Videos of the phenomenon have been obtained in Sweden, which Aftonbladet published on its website. Harri Kiiskinen of Sirius in Jyväskylä published an image of an all-sky camera from Hankasalmi (above) and a video from Jouni Raunio 's Ursa camera in Tampere. From Finland, the destination's flight was visible on a rather low horizon. Observations are received from the fireball using the fireball form .

18.3. In recent days, the photographers have taken on the thin sickle of Venus, whose only 3.3 per cent phase stands out precisely in Lasse Ekblom’s sample . In the attached more wide-angle view, Erkki Rauhala captures the view with a digital harness. Jukka Pöyry demonstrates how surprisingly well the Nikon Coolpix B700 digital paper can show the sickle of the planet with its own optical zoom.

18.3. Northern Lightsmaster Mikko Lönnberg has an absolutely ghostly ability to be there when something happens. March northern lights eruption 1./2.3. at night was completely behind the clouds in Finland. Olli-Matti Selin's observation of Norway seemed to be the only one in Finland. However, this did not happen. In Skibotn, the phenomenon was described not only by Selin, but also by Lönnberg. “The distance for this trip came 700 kilometers,” Lönnberg notes.

16.3. Antti Leppänen (Ursa, Southern Finland) recorded the International Space Station's lunar crossing from the Helsinki sky in a very illustrative sample. The positions of the station at different moments are shown in the image as individual exposures, forming a pearl ribbon across our orbit. The observation devices were a digital harrow and a 300 mm telephoto lens.

12.3. Sunday favored the outdoor enthusiast with beautiful spring winters and a varied halo play. Various cloud clouds were seen throughout the country. Heikki Hautala immortalized a comprehensive number of rainbow-shaped halo shapes seen in Nivala during the day.

March has begun in the wake of the northern lights. "The calm arches ignited to warp for about half an hour," Seija Ropponen (pictured) commented on the latest on March 7/8. a play in the provinces of Lapland and Oulu . The first 4./5.3. the show extended south to Turku ( Matti Helin ), 5./6.3. stretched to Aka ( Markku Ruonala ) and 6./7.3. To the Mäntsälä horizon ( Teppo Laitinen ) . See Antero Isola's picture catch 5./6.3.

7.3. Timo Kantola (Ursa, Eastern Finland) has followed the dim Johnson so far "Stays stable, does not crack", Kantola comments (photo). However, the comet with a short and clear tail has developed for itself. The first binocular comet of the spring, Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova, on the other hand, is starting to be history. Its brightness has subsided into a telescope target. Jorma Ryske of the Cosmological Society of Southern Finland published an animation of a dimmed object.

5.3. Olli Arkko published in Taivaanvahti on 22 February. The Messier 101 galaxy described in Kirkkonummi. The windmill galaxy is about 27 million light-years away from us in the constellation of the Big Bear. It is a large spiral galaxy roughly the size of our Milky Way. A total of 35 observations of the M101 galaxy have been reported to the Sky Guard in recent years.

2.-3.3. In the night between, the clouds in northern Lapland received their share of the northern lights of the ongoing period of activity as the clouds receded. We know this so far thanks to four observers. The play is documented in Taivaanvahti by Hánno Länsman (in Inari), Antero Isola (in Utsjoki), Olli-Matti Selin (in Muonio) and Sirpa Pursiainen (in Enontekiö). A picture of Pursiainen is attached. Central and Southern Finland have remained under extensive cloud cover.

1.3. Olli-Matti Selin of Ursa in Lahti shows (picture) where the northern lights come from, namely this time from Norway. Yesterday's elevated Northern Lights Index was of little use in Finland under the clouds. Overall, February was a relatively weak northern lights month in Taivaanvahti - largely due to the clouds. In January, a delightfully large number of observations were made, of which Pohjanpalo was perhaps the most spectacular of the season, Satu Juvonen's timelapse on 31 January .

1.3. The receding, matte telescope comet Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova has shown the tail more clearly in a few recent images. At the time of passing, the comet's tail was very modest. Jari Saukkonen received the Kirkkonummi comet on 26 February. tail better highlighted . Saukkonen's now-published observation also includes a gif animation of the object's movement.

27.2. Nova Roope Luukkainen of South Karelia tried to shoot a timelapse video on the night of Taipalsaari (February 26-February 27). The gif animation created by Luukkainen arrived in Taivaanvahti yesterday. "Timelapse's atmosphere strikes the screen with consciousness," comments Janne Kari . The picture shows the galaxy of Andromeda, meteors and the Milky Way, among others.

26.2. At 19.38 a spectacular fireball was spotted above Finland. More than 60 reports of the phenomenon have arrived in the Sky. You can check the current map situation from this link. According to the modeling of the fireball working group Esko Lyytinen , only about 160 grams of meteorite material survived from the air. Minor space rocks fell at the Ulvinsalo Nature Park about 5-10 kilometers on the other side of the eastern border.

25.2. Half a dozen sightings of the small fireball detected at about 19.32 arrived at the Sky Watch. The case has not been modeled so far. Ismo Leskelä was on the balcony in Laitila testing the camera equipment when a bright meteor was properly exposed to the screen (picture below). Several observations describe the body disintegrating at the end of the flight into parts that faded.

25.2. In recent years, a couple of three halo plays per winter season have been obtained from Northern Finland, which are especially valuable for research. Marko Riikonen discovered an exceptional play in Rovaniemi on 28 November last. An observation of its phase, which occurred around 8 p.m.

25.2. Turku's Ursan Jani Laasanen experimented with the description of Rosette, the classic nebula of the Unicorn constellation, with a combination of a digital harrow and an 8-centimeter telescope. "Lets believe in the possibilities of common sense in filming," comments Aulis Somppi , a veteran star enthusiast. Rosette is about 5,200 light-years away from us.

24.2. Pentti Arpalahti demos nicely on the pixel-level Venus (pictured left) what a different shot of the bright planet in the evening sky can be taken. The master of planetary photography, Lasse Ekblom, approached Mars (pictured right) by compiling an image of as many as 90,000 frames , bringing a surprisingly sharp view. PS This weekend Artjärvi Tähtikallio has a solar system meeting!

21.2. Today, Jari Luomanen's report on the magnificent lunar halo play seen on February 10 arrived in Taivaanvahti. The play clearly focused on the map in the direction of Tampere , from which seven observations were made. Luomanen’s observational image capture includes an “extra” and presumably difficult-to-simulate Lowitz-like arc. This may be a special modification of a known rarity or possibly a new halo form.

18.2. The performance of the tail star Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova is still dim, but the receding Moon is starting to allow longer exposures, as in the picture above by Timo Kantola (Ursa, Eastern Finland). Harri Kiiskinen of Sirius in Jyväskylä photographed the object from his home yard on 17.2. Tampere's Ursan Jorma Mäntylä estimates the brightness of the tail star to be about magnitude 7. Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova is the first of the three binoculars in the spring, and its brightness has been below forecasts.

16.2. Ursa in Tampere has a new CCD camera. "It is mainly intended for exo-hunting, photometry and all other excitement such as describing smaller galaxies or planetary remnants of stars," says Jouni Raunio. The picture shows Orion's large gas mist (M42) about 1,300 light-years away. "I made fast headlights without its more precise focusing or filter offset values and therefore the image is a bit soft."

14.2. On Tuesday evening at 11.02 pm, a bright fireball was observed in eastern and southeastern Finland. According to Esko Lyytinen , a mathematician in the fireball working group, the piece ended up in the direction of Ladoga, so the modeling has been stopped useless. The phenomenon became more than a dozen observations in the Sky Watch. The attached picture of the fireball was obtained by Timo Kantola at his meteor camera station in Pieksämäki.

13.2. In addition to the warm air, the Föhn wind brought exceptionally spectacular pearl cloud ferries across Finland. Several dozen observations of the phenomenon have arrived in the sky. Heikki Mahlamäki followed the phenomenon in Teuva (photo). Marko Riikonen's pictures show unusually thick and Kari Autto's dramatically different pearls. Possible nocturnal pearls of the moon are in the pictures of Matti Helin , Mikko Peussa and Tiina Törmänen.

12.2. The first of the three binoculars in the spring has not risen to the expected brightness. Its own problem is the spread of Koma. "Near the globe, the coma spreads quite widely and weakens the surface brightness," says Veikko Mäkelä. Attached is a sample of the Southern Finland Cosmological Society Jorma Ryske, where the monitoring has been in a comet. In the suburbs, Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova may be at its best, but the bright moon contributes to disturbing observations.

11.2. According to preliminary data, the semi-shadow eclipse has been seen in at least some places on the line formed by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Sysmä and Siilinjärvi, although there was also cloud cover. "The unfortunate cloud ferry flew in front of the Moon just after the deepest moment," says Matti Salo from Altair in Central Uusimaa. "Fortunately, the whole beginning and also the deepest phase came to be seen and described" (picture). Observations can be sent using the blackout form .

9.2. A responsive version of the Sky Watcher has been published. Thus, for the first time, the site will scale to screens of different sizes, such as narrow mobile screens and tablets. The responsiveness was implemented by Sasken Finland. At the same time, the size of the Images and Stories view and the commented images on the front page was increased. If you notice a bug in the implementation of a browser, please contact the maintenance: taivaanvahti (ät) ursa.fi.

8.2. A significant fireball that flew around 6:35 a.m. on Wednesday morning has been seen in almost the entire country. More than 140 eyewitness reports have already arrived in the sky. Observations are received on a fireball form. The picture above was taken by Kari Kaila, a member of Ursa's fireball team in Oulu. The phenomenon was also photographed at the camera stations of the same network by Jari Tuukkanen, Aki Taavitsainen and Jani Lauanne and Tero Raita in Sodankylä.

25.1. The onset of Air Force dark flight drills may bring more moving lights into the sky. Flight operations focus on weeks 2-6. The torches and throws used in the exercises may appear as moving spheres of light or fireworks-like phenomena. Observers are not collected from the Skyman, but they can be an impressive sight on a winter night. Picture of the Air Force

7.1. In recent days, there have been several inquiries about the bright light shining in the direction of the sunset. It is the planet Venus, alongside which is the dimmer Mars. The planetary pair will remain the target of the evening sky throughout the rest of the winter. Current destinations are easy to explore through Ursa’s star map . If you were able to get a picture of the objects, you can record the observation on the Solar System form . Photo by Mikko Koivisto