Saturday: Say good bye to Jupiter. It is just above the west horizon at 7:45 p.m. You may need binoculars to find it hiding in the glare of the setting Sun. Over the next few weeks, Jupiter will move behind the Sun and show up in the early morning sky.
Sunday: Venus, the brightest planet, is a half a fist held upright and at arm's length above the southeast horizon at 6:15 a.m. Neptune, the dimmest planet, is just to the upper right of Venus. But, you'll need binoculars to find it. When Venus is at the center of your field of view, Neptune will be the dim point of light at the 2 o'clock position.
Monday: Mercury and its human-made moon are one fist above the west horizon at 8 p.m. The "moon", also known as MESSENGER or MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, orbits Mercury once every 12 hours, getting as close as 124 miles from the surface of the planet. For comparison, the International Space Station orbits about 200 miles above the Earth's surface. For more information about the MESSENGER mission, go to http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/.
Tuesday: Leo the lion prowls the sky in the late winter and early spring. Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation, is five fists above the southeast horizon at 9 p.m.
Wednesday: So far this week, I have written about Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Neptune. Do you even care about these planets or does another planet really catch your fancy? If you’d like to learn what certain people’s favorite planet is, go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pluto/favorite.html and click on “Launch Interactive”. The public TV special called “The Pluto Files” has set up a website in which astronomers give a 30-second pitch for why a certain planet might be their favorite. After listening to the pitch, you may vote for your favorite planet. Of course, you may also do what most people do for political elections: vote for the candidate with the best name or the one with the most interesting campaign slogan. So whether you carefully consider each planet's merits or simply “Pick Uranus”, go to “The Pluto Files” and vote. Saturn will be holding a campaign rally tonight at 11 p.m., two fists above the southeast horizon.
Thursday: Venus is about a half a fist to the lower right of the Moon in the eastern sky at 6 a.m.
Friday: After a long journey through space, there is nothing will quench your thirst better than a few drops of refreshing Mars water. Wait! Is this an April Fool’s Day joke? No. Last year, after analyzing photos taken by the Mars Phoenix Lander, a group of astronomers discovered what they interpreted as drops of very salty liquid water on one of the Lander’s legs. But we are not going to travel 18 months to Mars just to lick a few drops of water off a metal leg. We want waterfront property if we are going all that way. The high resolution camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken images of dark rivulets form, grow, and fade in the Martian southern hemisphere. Even though Mars is very cold, this liquid could contain enough salt to lower its freezing point by more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Mars and that refreshing water rises due east just before the Sun. For more information about liquid water on Mars, go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/117806243.html.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 3/12/11
Saturday: Don't forget to set you clocks ahead one hour tonight for the annual ritual called daylight savings. Daylight savings originated in the United States during World War I to save energy for the war effort. But a recent study by two economists shows that switching to daylight savings time may actually lead to higher utility bills. When the economists compared the last three years of energy bills in the section of Indiana that just started observing daylight savings, they discovered that switching to daylight savings cost Indiana utility customers $8.6 million in electricity. In an even more important consequence of daylight savings, Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia discovered a 7% jump in traffic accidents on the Monday after we "spring ahead". Blame it on the lost hour of sleep. And, sky watchers will lose even more sleep because the sky does not get dark for an additional hour.
Sunday: Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, is a half a fist above the west horizon at 8 p.m. Mercury, the smallest planet in the Solar System, is a couple finger widths to the lower right of Jupiter.
Monday: The Moon is midway between the twin stars in Gemini and the little Dog Star. Procyon, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor, or the lesser dog, is one and a half fists below the Moon. Pollux and Castor are about a fist above the Moon. All of these objects are in the southern sky at 9 p.m.
Tuesday: Vega is a little more than a half a fist above the northeast horizon at 11:30 p.m.
Wednesday: This Saturday is Earth Sun day. For more information, go to http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2011/index.php.
Thursday: Mercury is the naked eye planet we know the least about. That may soon change because NASA’s Messenger probe is scheduled to start orbiting Mercury today. It will be the first visitor to the planet one Messenger scientist called the most under-appreciated planet since 1974. The number one question scientists hope to answer is why Mercury has such a large iron core compared to its size. The number one question you may be asking is “Why is Mercury in a different location with respect to Jupiter since Sunday?”. It is now about a finger width to the upper right of Jupiter. Since mercury is so close to the Sun, it moves very fast in its orbit so it changes positions in the sky much faster than an outer planet such as Jupiter.
Friday: Ask someone on which day in March the day becomes longer than the night. Go ahead, ask someone. Why are you still reading this? I can wait. If they said the first or second day of spring, they are wrong. Today, two days before the first day of spring, is the day in which there are more minutes of daylight than night. There are two main reasons for this. First, the atmosphere acts like a lens, bending light from the Sun above the horizon when the Sun is actually below the horizon. This makes the Sun appear to rise before it actually rises and appear to set after is actually sets. Second, spring starts when the center of the Sun passes through the point called the vernal equinox. But, the Sun is not a point. The upper edge of the Sun rises about a minute before the center of the Sun and the lower edge sets a minute after the center of the Sun. Thus, even if we didn’t have an atmosphere that bends the sunlight, daytime on the first day of spring would still be longer than 12 hours.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, is a half a fist above the west horizon at 8 p.m. Mercury, the smallest planet in the Solar System, is a couple finger widths to the lower right of Jupiter.
Monday: The Moon is midway between the twin stars in Gemini and the little Dog Star. Procyon, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor, or the lesser dog, is one and a half fists below the Moon. Pollux and Castor are about a fist above the Moon. All of these objects are in the southern sky at 9 p.m.
Tuesday: Vega is a little more than a half a fist above the northeast horizon at 11:30 p.m.
Wednesday: This Saturday is Earth Sun day. For more information, go to http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2011/index.php.
Thursday: Mercury is the naked eye planet we know the least about. That may soon change because NASA’s Messenger probe is scheduled to start orbiting Mercury today. It will be the first visitor to the planet one Messenger scientist called the most under-appreciated planet since 1974. The number one question scientists hope to answer is why Mercury has such a large iron core compared to its size. The number one question you may be asking is “Why is Mercury in a different location with respect to Jupiter since Sunday?”. It is now about a finger width to the upper right of Jupiter. Since mercury is so close to the Sun, it moves very fast in its orbit so it changes positions in the sky much faster than an outer planet such as Jupiter.
Friday: Ask someone on which day in March the day becomes longer than the night. Go ahead, ask someone. Why are you still reading this? I can wait. If they said the first or second day of spring, they are wrong. Today, two days before the first day of spring, is the day in which there are more minutes of daylight than night. There are two main reasons for this. First, the atmosphere acts like a lens, bending light from the Sun above the horizon when the Sun is actually below the horizon. This makes the Sun appear to rise before it actually rises and appear to set after is actually sets. Second, spring starts when the center of the Sun passes through the point called the vernal equinox. But, the Sun is not a point. The upper edge of the Sun rises about a minute before the center of the Sun and the lower edge sets a minute after the center of the Sun. Thus, even if we didn’t have an atmosphere that bends the sunlight, daytime on the first day of spring would still be longer than 12 hours.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 3/5/11
Saturday: “The crow rises in the southeast” said spy number one. “I’m sorry. I don’t recognize that code” replied spy number two. Spy one exclaimed, “That’s because it’s not a code, you idiot. I’m talking about the constellation Corvus the crow.” This very bad spy movie dialogue is to remind you that Corvus had a very bad life. According to one myth, Corvus brought the god Apollo the news that his girlfriend was seeing someone else. In a classic case of punishing the messenger, Apollo turned the formerly beautifully colored crow black. The box-shaped Corvus is one fist held upright and at arm’s length above the southeast horizon at 10 p.m.
Sunday: Jupiter is about a half a fist to the lower left of the Moon at 7 p.m. Enjoy Jupiter while you can because it is moving toward the Sun in the evening sky. Within a couple of weeks, it will be lost in the glare of the setting Sun.
Monday: 2009 was the International Year of Astronomy. Even though 2009 is long gone, astronomy lives on in the “Hot Topic” of the month. For March, the hot topic is observing at night… and in the day. Technology has expanded the amount of information astronomers can learn from observing the sky. Up until the mid 1900s, we studied the sky using a very narrow portion of the electromagnetic spectrum – visible light waves. It was like studying music by listening only to notes of medium pitch. The invention of the radio telescope opened up a new source of information, long wavelength radiation. It also opened a new time to observe the sky – the day time. Radio waves from outer space are not blocked by the sunlit sky like visible light from outer space is. For the past 50 years, astronomers have started gathering gamma ray, x-ray, ultraviolet, infrared, and microwave radiation. Finally, the entire symphony of wavelengths rather than just a few notes. But technology has also negatively impacted our view of the nighttime sky through light pollution. The dim light of a distant galaxy is facing more and more competition from businesses that use inefficient lighting that lights the sky as much as it lights the ground. Many communities, including Ellensburg, have passed or are working on ordinances to reduce this costly and sky-robbing stray lighting. Go to http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/topics_mar.htm for more information about the March “Hot Topic”.
Tuesday: Some people dream of moving into a high-rise. Craters on Mars dream of being photographed by HiRISE, the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, the largest telescope ever flown to another planet. It can see details down to one foot across. But, it didn't need much resolution on January 10 when it snapped a picture of twin craters, each about one mile across, connected on their side. The object that made the craters probably broke into two nearly equal sized objects in the thin Martian atmosphere and hit the ground at nearly the same time. For more information, go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/117192413.html.
Wednesday: In this busy world, it is important to know what time it is. We have many devises that give us the time. Our phone, a computer, a watch. But who has time to build a phone, computer or evan a watch. Not you. But everyone has enough time to build a simple Sun Clock. All you need is a pencil, a compass and a print out of the clock template. Go to http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/sunclock.html for more information.
Thursday: Seven sisters are hanging out with the Moon tonight. The open star cluster known as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, is less than a half a fist above the Moon at 7 p.m. Since the Moon is so much brighter than the stars in the cluster, it will be very difficult to see the sisters with the naked eye. Instead, aim your binoculars so the Moon is just below your field of view. The Pleiades will be near or below the middle of your field of view.
Friday: Saturn is three fists above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m. The bright star Spica is below it. Note the difference in the colors of the two objects. Saturn is a yellowish-orange color because of the material in its atmosphere. Spica is a whiteish-blue color because it is glowing like an extra hot light bulb filament. Star color os related to the temperature of the star. Red stars have smaller energy level transitions so they are cool. Blue and whiteish-blue stars have larger energy level transitions so they are hot.
Wait a minute. We got all the way to the end of the week with no Moon phase summary? How can that be? There are 29.5 days between the same Moon phase in two different cycles. That means about 7.5 days between the phases new, first quarter, full and last quarter. Since a week is seven days, there are some weeks in which none of the main phases occur. This week, the Moon was always in the waxing crescent phase.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Jupiter is about a half a fist to the lower left of the Moon at 7 p.m. Enjoy Jupiter while you can because it is moving toward the Sun in the evening sky. Within a couple of weeks, it will be lost in the glare of the setting Sun.
Monday: 2009 was the International Year of Astronomy. Even though 2009 is long gone, astronomy lives on in the “Hot Topic” of the month. For March, the hot topic is observing at night… and in the day. Technology has expanded the amount of information astronomers can learn from observing the sky. Up until the mid 1900s, we studied the sky using a very narrow portion of the electromagnetic spectrum – visible light waves. It was like studying music by listening only to notes of medium pitch. The invention of the radio telescope opened up a new source of information, long wavelength radiation. It also opened a new time to observe the sky – the day time. Radio waves from outer space are not blocked by the sunlit sky like visible light from outer space is. For the past 50 years, astronomers have started gathering gamma ray, x-ray, ultraviolet, infrared, and microwave radiation. Finally, the entire symphony of wavelengths rather than just a few notes. But technology has also negatively impacted our view of the nighttime sky through light pollution. The dim light of a distant galaxy is facing more and more competition from businesses that use inefficient lighting that lights the sky as much as it lights the ground. Many communities, including Ellensburg, have passed or are working on ordinances to reduce this costly and sky-robbing stray lighting. Go to http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/topics_mar.htm for more information about the March “Hot Topic”.
Tuesday: Some people dream of moving into a high-rise. Craters on Mars dream of being photographed by HiRISE, the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, the largest telescope ever flown to another planet. It can see details down to one foot across. But, it didn't need much resolution on January 10 when it snapped a picture of twin craters, each about one mile across, connected on their side. The object that made the craters probably broke into two nearly equal sized objects in the thin Martian atmosphere and hit the ground at nearly the same time. For more information, go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/117192413.html.
Wednesday: In this busy world, it is important to know what time it is. We have many devises that give us the time. Our phone, a computer, a watch. But who has time to build a phone, computer or evan a watch. Not you. But everyone has enough time to build a simple Sun Clock. All you need is a pencil, a compass and a print out of the clock template. Go to http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/sunclock.html for more information.
Thursday: Seven sisters are hanging out with the Moon tonight. The open star cluster known as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, is less than a half a fist above the Moon at 7 p.m. Since the Moon is so much brighter than the stars in the cluster, it will be very difficult to see the sisters with the naked eye. Instead, aim your binoculars so the Moon is just below your field of view. The Pleiades will be near or below the middle of your field of view.
Friday: Saturn is three fists above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m. The bright star Spica is below it. Note the difference in the colors of the two objects. Saturn is a yellowish-orange color because of the material in its atmosphere. Spica is a whiteish-blue color because it is glowing like an extra hot light bulb filament. Star color os related to the temperature of the star. Red stars have smaller energy level transitions so they are cool. Blue and whiteish-blue stars have larger energy level transitions so they are hot.
Wait a minute. We got all the way to the end of the week with no Moon phase summary? How can that be? There are 29.5 days between the same Moon phase in two different cycles. That means about 7.5 days between the phases new, first quarter, full and last quarter. Since a week is seven days, there are some weeks in which none of the main phases occur. This week, the Moon was always in the waxing crescent phase.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Monday, February 21, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 2/26/11
Saturday: How many stars can be seen in the constellation Orion? From tonight through March 6, you can help answer that question. The organization called GLOBE at Night is looking for people all over the world to count how many stars they can see in the constellation Orion. Participants use star charts found at http://www.globeatnight.org/ to observe Orion and compare what they see to the charts. After making the observations, participants can go to the website and add their findings to those of thousands of other observers. The main goal of GLOBE at Night is to research the pattern of light pollution across the globe. A secondary goal is to increase interest in observing and awareness of the night sky. You can find the middle of Orion three and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southwest horizon at 9 p.m. In Orion, you’ll see four of the 30 brightest stars in the night sky: Rigel, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, and Alnilam.
Sunday: It’s getting dark. The last remnant of twilight has disappeared. Suddenly, you notice a large softly radiant pyramid of light in the western sky. The base of this ghostly triangle is along the west horizon and the peak stretches two or three fists above the horizon. It is not really a ghost. It is an effect called the zodiacal light. This light comes from sunlight reflecting off dust grains in our solar system. The effect is the most visible when the band of constellations called the zodiac makes a steep angle with the horizon. You need a clear dark sky with no haze or light pollution to see the zodiacal light. At its brightest, the zodiacal light rivals the light of the central Milky Way. Look for this light after twilight in the middle evening for the next few weeks.
Monday: Jupiter is one fist above the west horizon at 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Venus is a half a fist to the right of the thin, waning crescent Moon at 6 a.m.
Wednesday: If the National Enquirer was around in Galileo’s day, it may have featured the headline: “Saturn has love handles; Opis leaves him for a much thinner Mars”. When Galileo first observed Saturn through a telescope, he reported objects that looked like bulges on either side of Saturn’s midsection. He was actually seeing Saturn’s rings through less than ideal optics. Go to http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/observe_mar.htm for more information about Saturn. Go to one and a half fists above the east-southeast horizon at 10 p.m. to see Saturn.
Thursday: You’ve seen the science fiction love story movies where humans travel to a comet in order to blow it up. Now watch the Valentine’s Day movies where human travel to a comet in order to study it. On February 14, the NASA Stardust spacecraft recorded its trip to within 115 miles of Comet Tempel 1. So get your significant other, go to http://www.universetoday.com/83368/movies-of-comet-tempel-1-flyby-by-stardust-next/ and enjoy the ride. It’s probably better than another Twilight movie and much for you to see.
Friday: Tonight’s Moon is new. Don’t bother looking for it. The new moon is the phase where the Moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun. Hence the side of the Moon facing Earth is not receiving any sunlight and cannot be seen. This is why some people call this phase the “dark moon” and reserve the name “new moon” for the first visible waxing crescent after the Moon moves out from directly between the Earth and Sun.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: It’s getting dark. The last remnant of twilight has disappeared. Suddenly, you notice a large softly radiant pyramid of light in the western sky. The base of this ghostly triangle is along the west horizon and the peak stretches two or three fists above the horizon. It is not really a ghost. It is an effect called the zodiacal light. This light comes from sunlight reflecting off dust grains in our solar system. The effect is the most visible when the band of constellations called the zodiac makes a steep angle with the horizon. You need a clear dark sky with no haze or light pollution to see the zodiacal light. At its brightest, the zodiacal light rivals the light of the central Milky Way. Look for this light after twilight in the middle evening for the next few weeks.
Monday: Jupiter is one fist above the west horizon at 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Venus is a half a fist to the right of the thin, waning crescent Moon at 6 a.m.
Wednesday: If the National Enquirer was around in Galileo’s day, it may have featured the headline: “Saturn has love handles; Opis leaves him for a much thinner Mars”. When Galileo first observed Saturn through a telescope, he reported objects that looked like bulges on either side of Saturn’s midsection. He was actually seeing Saturn’s rings through less than ideal optics. Go to http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/observe_mar.htm for more information about Saturn. Go to one and a half fists above the east-southeast horizon at 10 p.m. to see Saturn.
Thursday: You’ve seen the science fiction love story movies where humans travel to a comet in order to blow it up. Now watch the Valentine’s Day movies where human travel to a comet in order to study it. On February 14, the NASA Stardust spacecraft recorded its trip to within 115 miles of Comet Tempel 1. So get your significant other, go to http://www.universetoday.com/83368/movies-of-comet-tempel-1-flyby-by-stardust-next/ and enjoy the ride. It’s probably better than another Twilight movie and much for you to see.
Friday: Tonight’s Moon is new. Don’t bother looking for it. The new moon is the phase where the Moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun. Hence the side of the Moon facing Earth is not receiving any sunlight and cannot be seen. This is why some people call this phase the “dark moon” and reserve the name “new moon” for the first visible waxing crescent after the Moon moves out from directly between the Earth and Sun.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 2/19/11
Saturday: This President’s Day weekend, let’s remember Abraham Lincoln: 16th president, country lawyer, man on the penny, and astronomer. Astronomer? Well, maybe not an astronomer, but someone who used observational evidence from the sky to solve a problem. In 1858, Lincoln defended Duff Armstrong, a family friend who was accused of murder. The prosecution thought they had a strong case because their primary witnesses claimed to have observed the killing by the light of the nearly full moon. Let’s listen in on the trial courtesy of the 1939 film, Young Mr. Lincoln.
Lincoln: How’d you see so well?
Witness: I told you it was Moon bright, Mr. Lincoln.
Lincoln: Moon bright.
Witness: Yes.
(Dramatic pause as Lincoln reaches for something)
Lincoln: Look at this. Go on, look at it. It’s the Farmer’s Almanack (sic). You see what it says about the Moon. That the Moon… set at 10:21, 40 minutes before the killing took place. So you see it couldn’t have been Moon bright, could it?
Lincoln used the known information about Moon rise and set times for August 29, 1858 as evidence in a trial. You may confirm Lincoln’s findings on the Moon set time by going to http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php, the US Naval Observatory website, and filling out Form A. For more information about Lincoln’s “almanac trial”, go to http://media.skyandtelescope.com/documents/Almanac_Trial.pdf.
Sunday: The sky provides an effective lesson in geometry and in relative motions tonight. At 11 p.m., the moon, Saturn, and the bright star Spica form a small right triangle one and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeast horizon. Saturn is to the upper left of the moon and Spica is to the lower left. By 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, this triangle as moved across the sky to about two fists above the southwest horizon. Saturn is now to the upper right of the moon and Spica is to the upper left. These are simply changes in their position in the sky due to the rotation of the Earth. But, because the moon is very close to the Earth, in an astronomical scale, we can observe the moon’s actual motion with respect to more distant objects. Thus, you will notice that the triangle tonight has a slightly different shape than the triangle tomorrow morning because the moon has moved eastward toward Spica in the sky.
Monday: Avast ye matey. Swab the poop deck. Pirates love astronomy. In fact, the term “poop” in poop deck comes from the French word for stern (poupe) which comes for the Latin word Puppis. Puppis is a constellation that represents the raised stern deck of Argo Navis, the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology. Argo Nevis was an ancient constellation that is now divided between the constellations Puppis, Vela and Carina. The top of Puppis is about a fist and a half to the left of the bright star Sirius in the south-southwest sky at 10 p.m. Zeta Puppis, the hottest, and thus the bluest, naked eye star in the sky at 40,000 degrees Celsius is near the uppermost point in Puppis.
Tuesday: Venus is a little less than one fist above the southeast horizon at 6 a.m.
Wednesday: Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky, is two and a half fists above the south horizon at 9 p.m.
Thursday: Jupiter is a little more than one fist above the west horizon at 7 p.m. By mid-March, Jupiter will be lost in the glare of the Sun. But that will not make Jupiter any less interesting. Jupiter’s dark Southern Equatorial Belt (SEB) disappeared for most of 2010, probably covered by lighter colored ammonia clouds in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere. But recent photographs taken using an infrared wavelength camera show that the ammonia clouds may be starting to part, revealing the SEB once again. For more information, go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/115941284.html.
Friday: Have you been to outer space lately? Neither have I. But the iron meteorite slice just acquired by the Central Washington University Astronomy club has. It made the trip from the inner Solar System asteroid belt long ago, landed on a farm near Uruaçu, Brazil in 1992 and now resides in a display case near the middle of the first floor in Lind Hall on the CWU campus. Thanks to NASA and the Night Sky Network for providing this slice of a coarse octahedrite meteorites are composed primarily of nickel-iron alloys
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Lincoln: How’d you see so well?
Witness: I told you it was Moon bright, Mr. Lincoln.
Lincoln: Moon bright.
Witness: Yes.
(Dramatic pause as Lincoln reaches for something)
Lincoln: Look at this. Go on, look at it. It’s the Farmer’s Almanack (sic). You see what it says about the Moon. That the Moon… set at 10:21, 40 minutes before the killing took place. So you see it couldn’t have been Moon bright, could it?
Lincoln used the known information about Moon rise and set times for August 29, 1858 as evidence in a trial. You may confirm Lincoln’s findings on the Moon set time by going to http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php, the US Naval Observatory website, and filling out Form A. For more information about Lincoln’s “almanac trial”, go to http://media.skyandtelescope.com/documents/Almanac_Trial.pdf.
Sunday: The sky provides an effective lesson in geometry and in relative motions tonight. At 11 p.m., the moon, Saturn, and the bright star Spica form a small right triangle one and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeast horizon. Saturn is to the upper left of the moon and Spica is to the lower left. By 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, this triangle as moved across the sky to about two fists above the southwest horizon. Saturn is now to the upper right of the moon and Spica is to the upper left. These are simply changes in their position in the sky due to the rotation of the Earth. But, because the moon is very close to the Earth, in an astronomical scale, we can observe the moon’s actual motion with respect to more distant objects. Thus, you will notice that the triangle tonight has a slightly different shape than the triangle tomorrow morning because the moon has moved eastward toward Spica in the sky.
Monday: Avast ye matey. Swab the poop deck. Pirates love astronomy. In fact, the term “poop” in poop deck comes from the French word for stern (poupe) which comes for the Latin word Puppis. Puppis is a constellation that represents the raised stern deck of Argo Navis, the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology. Argo Nevis was an ancient constellation that is now divided between the constellations Puppis, Vela and Carina. The top of Puppis is about a fist and a half to the left of the bright star Sirius in the south-southwest sky at 10 p.m. Zeta Puppis, the hottest, and thus the bluest, naked eye star in the sky at 40,000 degrees Celsius is near the uppermost point in Puppis.
Tuesday: Venus is a little less than one fist above the southeast horizon at 6 a.m.
Wednesday: Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky, is two and a half fists above the south horizon at 9 p.m.
Thursday: Jupiter is a little more than one fist above the west horizon at 7 p.m. By mid-March, Jupiter will be lost in the glare of the Sun. But that will not make Jupiter any less interesting. Jupiter’s dark Southern Equatorial Belt (SEB) disappeared for most of 2010, probably covered by lighter colored ammonia clouds in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere. But recent photographs taken using an infrared wavelength camera show that the ammonia clouds may be starting to part, revealing the SEB once again. For more information, go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/115941284.html.
Friday: Have you been to outer space lately? Neither have I. But the iron meteorite slice just acquired by the Central Washington University Astronomy club has. It made the trip from the inner Solar System asteroid belt long ago, landed on a farm near Uruaçu, Brazil in 1992 and now resides in a display case near the middle of the first floor in Lind Hall on the CWU campus. Thanks to NASA and the Night Sky Network for providing this slice of a coarse octahedrite meteorites are composed primarily of nickel-iron alloys
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 2/11/11
Saturday: According to Greek mythology, the beautiful princess Andromeda was chained to a rock next to the ocean. Cetus the sea monster was about to devour her in order to punish her family. It seemed that all was lost. But, along came the great warrior Perseus, fresh off his defeat of the evil Gorgon, Medusa. The only similarity between Andromeda and Medusa was that Andromeda caused people to stand still and stares at her beauty while Medusa turned people to stone because of her ugliness. (And, you thought you looked bad in the morning.) Even though Perseus’ standing as the son of King Zeus and the slayer of Medusa was probably enough to win Andromeda under normal circumstances, Andromeda’s impending death-by-sea-monster was not a normal circumstance. So, Perseus drove his sword into the sea monsters neck and killed it. In a little known addendum to the story, Perseus carved “Percy (heart symbol) Andi” in the rock, thus originating the use of the heart symbol as a substitute for the word “love”.
You can find these lovers in the sky this Valentine’s Day. Just remember it is rude stare – and you never know when you might turn to stone. First, find the Great Square of Pegasus at 7 p.m. between one and a half and three and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the west horizon. The lowest star in Andromeda is the top star in the square. This represents Andromeda’s head. Perseus is at her feet, nearly straight overhead. Mirphak, the brightest star in Perseus is about eight fists above the west horizon. Perseus’ body is represented by the line of stars to the left and right of Mirphak.
Sunday: Venus, the brightest point of light in the sky, is a little more than one fist above the southeast horizon at 6:30 a.m.
Monday: Give your sweetheart a ring for Valentine’s Day. No, no, no. Don’t break the bank. Show your sweetheart Saturn, the ringed planet. It is one fist above the east-southeast horizon at 11 p.m.
Tuesday: February is named for the Roman word februum which means purification. Februa, the Roman festival of ritual purification was held on February 15 according to the Roman lunar calendar. Feb-hand-sanitizer-rua is the soccer mom ritual of pre snack purification. It is held every Saturday during the summer before the orange slices are handed out.
Wednesday: Jupiter is one and a half fists above the west-southwest horizon at 7 p.m.
Thursday: Tonight’s full moon is in the constellation Leo the lion. You may have noticed that your calendar says the full moon is the 18th, not today. Why is that? Because your calendar lies. After all, the calendar says it is your spouse’s birthday and you know that it is not your spouse’s birth…. Oh no! It IS your spouse’s birthday. Run out and buy a gift before it… is… too… late. Oops, too late. You may as well read the rest of the column. The actual moment of the full moon, the time when the Earth is directly between the Moon and the Sun is Friday morning at 12:47 am. Thus, the moon spends most of its “close to full moon” time this evening, the 17th.
Friday: “Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Pluto. Happy Birthday to you.” On this day in 1930, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, the solar system object formerly known as a planet.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
You can find these lovers in the sky this Valentine’s Day. Just remember it is rude stare – and you never know when you might turn to stone. First, find the Great Square of Pegasus at 7 p.m. between one and a half and three and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the west horizon. The lowest star in Andromeda is the top star in the square. This represents Andromeda’s head. Perseus is at her feet, nearly straight overhead. Mirphak, the brightest star in Perseus is about eight fists above the west horizon. Perseus’ body is represented by the line of stars to the left and right of Mirphak.
Sunday: Venus, the brightest point of light in the sky, is a little more than one fist above the southeast horizon at 6:30 a.m.
Monday: Give your sweetheart a ring for Valentine’s Day. No, no, no. Don’t break the bank. Show your sweetheart Saturn, the ringed planet. It is one fist above the east-southeast horizon at 11 p.m.
Tuesday: February is named for the Roman word februum which means purification. Februa, the Roman festival of ritual purification was held on February 15 according to the Roman lunar calendar. Feb-hand-sanitizer-rua is the soccer mom ritual of pre snack purification. It is held every Saturday during the summer before the orange slices are handed out.
Wednesday: Jupiter is one and a half fists above the west-southwest horizon at 7 p.m.
Thursday: Tonight’s full moon is in the constellation Leo the lion. You may have noticed that your calendar says the full moon is the 18th, not today. Why is that? Because your calendar lies. After all, the calendar says it is your spouse’s birthday and you know that it is not your spouse’s birth…. Oh no! It IS your spouse’s birthday. Run out and buy a gift before it… is… too… late. Oops, too late. You may as well read the rest of the column. The actual moment of the full moon, the time when the Earth is directly between the Moon and the Sun is Friday morning at 12:47 am. Thus, the moon spends most of its “close to full moon” time this evening, the 17th.
Friday: “Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Pluto. Happy Birthday to you.” On this day in 1930, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, the solar system object formerly known as a planet.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 2/5/11
Saturday: “E.T. phone Kepler 11”. This may be the iconic line of dialog if there is a sequel the hit movie “E.T.”. This past Wednesday, scientists working on the Kepler planet finding mission announced 1,235 planet candidates, 68 of which are approximately Earth-size. Five of the near Earth-size planets are in the habitable zone of their host star meaning the temperature is right for liquid water to exist in the surface. The most exciting find is the six planet (so far) system orbiting a Sun-like star dubbed Kepler-11. None of Kepler-11’s planets orbit in the habitable zone. But this is the largest group of planets ever discovered that transit their star. A transiting planet is one that passes between the Earth and its host star such that the host star’s light is dimmed a little bit. Kepler-11 is located about one fist held upright and at arm’s length above the northwest horizon at 7 p.m. It is much too dim to be seen with the naked eye but it is near the bright star Deneb in the sky. To learn more about the Kepler mission, go to http://kepler.nasa.gov/.
Sunday: Jupiter is a half a fist to the lower left of the Moon at 7 p.m.
Monday: Are you looking for a little romance in your sky? If so, go to the planetarium show “Romantic Myths” given tonight at 7:50, 8:30 and 9:10 by the CWU Astronomy Club. Here you will learn important tips for meeting your loved one such as saving them from a sea monster or casting them into the sky. The shows are in the SURC Ballroom, up on the second floor. Located on the CWU campus at the intersection of N Chestnut Street and E 11th Avenue, the SURC has ample free parking available most evenings.
Tuesday: Small bodies can make big impacts. Think babies. Gymnasts. Ferrets. Comets. Comets? While the typical comets we observe are much larger than those other small bodies I listed, they are some of the smallest objects in the Solar System. Yet they have a big impact on our understanding of the formation of the Solar System. Larger objects have processes such as weathering and volcanism that cover up evidence of the early Solar System’s history. But, NASA isn’t covering up any evidence on its Year of the Solar System website. Go to http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss/display.cfm?Year=2011&Month=2 to read more about how the small bodies have big impacts. And, no, I don’t mean bunny rabbits.
Wednesday: Winter is a good time to see think band of the Milky Way galaxy. It arches high in the high in the early evening starting in the southeast by Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Climbing from Sirius through the "horns" of Taurus high overhead, it drops down toward M-shaped Cassiopeia in the north and the tail of Cygnus, the swan, in the northwest.
Thursday: Tonight’s first quarter Moon is in the constellation Aries the ram.
Friday: Saturn is one fist above the east-southeast horizon at 11 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Jupiter is a half a fist to the lower left of the Moon at 7 p.m.
Monday: Are you looking for a little romance in your sky? If so, go to the planetarium show “Romantic Myths” given tonight at 7:50, 8:30 and 9:10 by the CWU Astronomy Club. Here you will learn important tips for meeting your loved one such as saving them from a sea monster or casting them into the sky. The shows are in the SURC Ballroom, up on the second floor. Located on the CWU campus at the intersection of N Chestnut Street and E 11th Avenue, the SURC has ample free parking available most evenings.
Tuesday: Small bodies can make big impacts. Think babies. Gymnasts. Ferrets. Comets. Comets? While the typical comets we observe are much larger than those other small bodies I listed, they are some of the smallest objects in the Solar System. Yet they have a big impact on our understanding of the formation of the Solar System. Larger objects have processes such as weathering and volcanism that cover up evidence of the early Solar System’s history. But, NASA isn’t covering up any evidence on its Year of the Solar System website. Go to http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss/display.cfm?Year=2011&Month=2 to read more about how the small bodies have big impacts. And, no, I don’t mean bunny rabbits.
Wednesday: Winter is a good time to see think band of the Milky Way galaxy. It arches high in the high in the early evening starting in the southeast by Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Climbing from Sirius through the "horns" of Taurus high overhead, it drops down toward M-shaped Cassiopeia in the north and the tail of Cygnus, the swan, in the northwest.
Thursday: Tonight’s first quarter Moon is in the constellation Aries the ram.
Friday: Saturn is one fist above the east-southeast horizon at 11 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
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