Saturday: Star light. Star bright. The first star you see tonight might be Arcturus, six fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southwestern horizon right after sunset.
Sunday: The moon is almost directly between the Earth and
the Sun tomorrow. That means you won’t be able to see it. But that does not
mean it doesn’t exist. Contrary to the belief of toddlers and immature
politicians, just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it doesn’t
exist. (Note a double negative statement followed by a triple negative
statement. I’m not unsorry about that.) Now, back to the science. What would
happen to the Earth if the moon really didn’t exist? In that 2013 blockbuster
Oblivion, aliens destroy the moon and Tom Cruise survives. But the long-term
effects on the earth would be devastating to life as we know it. The moon
stabilizes the spin axis of the earth keeping the seasons fairly uniform over
time. For more information on what would happen to the earth if the moon were
destroyed, go to https://www.popsci.com/what-would-happen-if-moon-suddenly-disappeared/.
For more information on Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cruise.
Monday: Say "Cheese". 173 years ago, Vega, in the
constellation Lyra the lyre, became the first star ever photographed. The
photograph was taken at the Harvard Observatory using the daguerreotype
process. Vega is the third brightest night time star we can see in Ellensburg,
behind Sirius and Arcturus. Vega is nearly straight overhead at 11:00
tonight.
Tuesday: Three planets and a bright star are hanging out
with the moon tonight at 9:30 p.m., low on the western horizon. Mercury is
about a half a fist to the lower right of the moon. Bright Venus is about a
half a fist to the lower left of the moon. The star Regulus is about a half a
fist to the left of the moon. Mars is about a half a fist to the upper left of
Regulus. (I bet you didn’t see that surprise sentence ending coming.)
Wednesday: Take a two and a half hour walk today. Too long,
you say? Fifty three years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the
first ever walk by humans on another world. They spend two and a half hours
setting up scientific instruments and collecting rocks for study back on Earth.
Their colleague Michael Collins orbited the Moon in the spacecraft the
astronauts would use to return to Earth. While everyone seems to know about
Armstrong and Aldrin, spend some time learning more about Collins by reading https://time.com/5624528/michael-collins-apollo-11/.
Thursday: The Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower has a
long gradual peak for the next few weeks into mid-August. Meteor showers are
named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. These
meteors appear to come from a point in Aquarius near the star Delta Aquarii,
also known as Skat. This point is about two and a half fists above the
southeast horizon at 3 am early this morning. You can follow this point
throughout the night and for the next few weeks, as it will remain a fist above
Fomalhaut, the brightest star in that section of the sky. Read about the
shower, at https://earthsky.org/?p=159138.
As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum
enjoyment. Meteors are tiny rocks that hit the Earth and burn up in the
atmosphere.
Friday: Saturn is about one fist above the east-southeastern
horizon at 11:30 p.m. By 4:30 a.m., it has moved to three fists above the
southern horizon. Now Jupiter is three and a half fists above the
east-southeastern horizon.
The positional information in this column about stars and
planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information
about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
No comments:
Post a Comment