What's up in the sky 2/18/12
Today: “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.
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.
Monday: 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 rising and setting times for August 29, 1858 as evidence in a trial. This is one of the earliest uses of forensic astronomy. 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://goo.gl/dS56e.
Tuesday: 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.
Wednesday: Venus is two and a half fists held upright and at arms length and Jupiter is four fists above the southwest horizon at 7 p.m.
Thursday: Saturn is just barely above the horizon at a reasonable viewing hour. It is a half a fist above the east-southeast horizon at 11 p.m.
Friday: The space shuttles have been retired. But that does not mean NASA has stopped thinking about the future of space flight. Here is a small NASA poster summarizing the future of American Human spaceflight: http://goo.gl/D8KWj. Mars is one of the possible destinations. If Mars is your viewing destination tonight, look three and a half fists above the east-southeast horizon at 10 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The Ellensburg Sky for the week of 2/11/12
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 stare 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 to 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: Spica is less than a half a fist to the upper right and Saturn is one fist to the upper left of the Moon in the southwest sky this morning.
Monday: How many stars can you see in the constellation Orion? This week, 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 Orion four fists above the south horizon at 8 p.m. If you are too busy this week, GLOBE at Night will collect data in mid-March and mid-April too.
Tuesday: Are you looking for a little romance in your life? If so, make a date with your sweetie to go to the CWU Astronomy Club planetarium show tonight at 7:30 or 8:30 p.m. Here you will learn important tips for making your relationship stronger such as identifying constellations in the sky or determining which direction is north. 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 after 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 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. Speaking of orange, the orange-red star Antares is a half a fist below the Moon at 6 a.m.
Thursday: Last month, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) took pictures of definite evidence of intelligent life on Mars. Shocking news, right? It makes you wonder if “War of the Worlds” could be true. It could be… but in reverse. The MRO spacecraft took pictures of the lander that the NASA probe called Spirit arrived on in 2004. That’s right, the invaders came from Earth to Mars. See the evidence at http://goo.gl/1dRDs. Mars, itself, is two and a half fists above the east-southeast horizon at 10 p.m.
Friday: Venus is two fists above the west-southwest horizon and Jupiter is three and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 7 p.m.
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 to 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: Spica is less than a half a fist to the upper right and Saturn is one fist to the upper left of the Moon in the southwest sky this morning.
Monday: How many stars can you see in the constellation Orion? This week, 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 Orion four fists above the south horizon at 8 p.m. If you are too busy this week, GLOBE at Night will collect data in mid-March and mid-April too.
Tuesday: Are you looking for a little romance in your life? If so, make a date with your sweetie to go to the CWU Astronomy Club planetarium show tonight at 7:30 or 8:30 p.m. Here you will learn important tips for making your relationship stronger such as identifying constellations in the sky or determining which direction is north. 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 after 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 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. Speaking of orange, the orange-red star Antares is a half a fist below the Moon at 6 a.m.
Thursday: Last month, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) took pictures of definite evidence of intelligent life on Mars. Shocking news, right? It makes you wonder if “War of the Worlds” could be true. It could be… but in reverse. The MRO spacecraft took pictures of the lander that the NASA probe called Spirit arrived on in 2004. That’s right, the invaders came from Earth to Mars. See the evidence at http://goo.gl/1dRDs. Mars, itself, is two and a half fists above the east-southeast horizon at 10 p.m.
Friday: Venus is two fists above the west-southwest horizon and Jupiter is three and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 7 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Ellensburg Sky for the week of 2/4/12
Saturday: “E.T. phone Kepler 20… if you are feeling cold”. This may be the new iconic line of dialog if there is a sequel the hit movie “E.T.”. In December, scientists working on the Kepler planet-finding mission announced the discovery of two Earth-size planets orbiting a star other than the Sun. This star, dubbed Kepler-20, is a little smaller and cooler than the Sun. The planets are much closer to their star than Earth is to the Sun. Kepler 20e is around 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt glass. The planets orbiting Kepler 20 were discovered using the transit method where a planet passes between the Earth and its host star such that the host star’s light is dimmed a little bit. Kepler-20 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 midway between the bright stars Deneb and Vega in the sky. To learn more about the Kepler mission, go to http://kepler.nasa.gov/.
Sunday: Winter is a good time to see the thick 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.
Monday: Jupiter is four and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Some Native Americans call tonight’s full moon the Full Snow Moon because the heaviest snow often falls during this month. The Moon is in the constellation Cancer the Crab tonight.
Wednesday: Uranus gets a guide in the sky for the next few nights. The planet is too dim to be seen with the naked eye unless the sky is extremely dark, cloudless, and still. For the next three nights, it will be near the super bright planet Venus in the night sky. First find Venus with your binoculars. Tonight, Uranus will be to the upper left of the Moon. Tomorrow night, they’ll be close enough together in the sky to be visible together in a small to medium-sized telescope. Each night, Venus is two fists above the west horizon at 7 p.m.
Thursday: Mars and Saturn are both up by midnight. Mars is a fist to the upper left of the Moon and four fists above the southeast horizon at midnight. Saturn is a little more than a half a fist above the east-southeast horizon.
Friday: Are you looking for a little romance in your life? If so, make a date with your sweetie to go to the CWU Astronomy Club planetarium show on Valentine’s Day at 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Here you will learn important tips for making your relationship stronger such as helping them determine their latitude if they are lost or refuting the validity of horoscopes. 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 after 4:30 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Winter is a good time to see the thick 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.
Monday: Jupiter is four and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Some Native Americans call tonight’s full moon the Full Snow Moon because the heaviest snow often falls during this month. The Moon is in the constellation Cancer the Crab tonight.
Wednesday: Uranus gets a guide in the sky for the next few nights. The planet is too dim to be seen with the naked eye unless the sky is extremely dark, cloudless, and still. For the next three nights, it will be near the super bright planet Venus in the night sky. First find Venus with your binoculars. Tonight, Uranus will be to the upper left of the Moon. Tomorrow night, they’ll be close enough together in the sky to be visible together in a small to medium-sized telescope. Each night, Venus is two fists above the west horizon at 7 p.m.
Thursday: Mars and Saturn are both up by midnight. Mars is a fist to the upper left of the Moon and four fists above the southeast horizon at midnight. Saturn is a little more than a half a fist above the east-southeast horizon.
Friday: Are you looking for a little romance in your life? If so, make a date with your sweetie to go to the CWU Astronomy Club planetarium show on Valentine’s Day at 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Here you will learn important tips for making your relationship stronger such as helping them determine their latitude if they are lost or refuting the validity of horoscopes. 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 after 4:30 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Ellensburg Sky for the week of 1/28/12
Saturday: Winter is the best season for finding bright stars. And if you only want to set aside a few minutes, 10 p.m. tonight just might be the best time because the winter hexagon is due south. Starting at the bottom, find Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, two and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the south horizon. Going clockwise, Procyon (6th brightest star visible from Washington state) is about two and a half fists to the upper left of Sirius. Pollux (12th brightest) is about two and a half fists above Procyon. Capella (4th brightest) is about two and a half fists to the upper right of Procyon and close to straight overhead. Going back to Sirius at the bottom, Rigel (5th brightest) about two and a half fists to the upper right of Sirius. Aldebaran (9th brightest) is about three fists above Rigel. Betelgeuse (7th brightest) is in the center of the hexagon. Adhara (16th brightest) is a little more than a fist below Sirius and Castor (17th brightest) is right above Pollux. That’s nine of the 17 brightest stars visible in the northern United States in one part of the sky.
Sunday: Jupiter is a fist to the left of the Moon, five fists above the southwest horizon at 7 p.m.
Monday: The good news is the days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter. The better news is the farther north you go in the United States, the longer the days get. Here in Ellensburg, there is one more hour of daylight than on the first day of winter. In the southern part of the US, there are only 30 more minutes of sunlight. Of course, on the North Pole, the day length goes from zero hours to 24 hours.
Tuesday: Two year ago, NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spotted its first of many never-before-seen near Earth asteroids. While there is no danger of this asteroid hitting Earth in the foreseeable future, the United States’ government is worried about the threat of a rogue asteroid hitting Earth. So much so that Congress mandated that by 2020, NASA must find 90% of all potential Earth-impacting asteroids down to 140 meters across. I may write a book about this search called “Going Rogue – An Asteroid Life”. Here is an excerpt.
I’d rather “stand with our North Korean allies” than be in the path of even a small asteroid streaking towards Earth. Would it be dangerous? You betcha! The asteroid that created the mile-wide impact crater in Arizona was only 25 meters in diameter and packed a wallop about 150 times the force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. I say “Thanks but no thanks” to that kind of risk, even if this size impact occurs only once every few hundred years.
Wednesday: Venus is two and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 6 p.m.
Thursday: Today is Groundhog Day. If Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t see his shadow this morning, he is telling us that he follows the Chinese calendar and that spring starts early. On the Chinese calendar, equinoxes and solstices occur in the middle of their respective seasons. In order for the vernal equinox to occur in the middle of spring, spring must start on February 3 or 4, depending on the year. Thus, if Phil doesn’t see his shadow, legend is that spring will start on February 3 or 4 as on the Chinese calendar. If Phil sees his shadow, he is telling us he agrees with the western calendar and that there will be six more weeks of winter meaning spring will start near March 20.
Friday: Mars is one fist above the east horizon at 10 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Jupiter is a fist to the left of the Moon, five fists above the southwest horizon at 7 p.m.
Monday: The good news is the days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter. The better news is the farther north you go in the United States, the longer the days get. Here in Ellensburg, there is one more hour of daylight than on the first day of winter. In the southern part of the US, there are only 30 more minutes of sunlight. Of course, on the North Pole, the day length goes from zero hours to 24 hours.
Tuesday: Two year ago, NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spotted its first of many never-before-seen near Earth asteroids. While there is no danger of this asteroid hitting Earth in the foreseeable future, the United States’ government is worried about the threat of a rogue asteroid hitting Earth. So much so that Congress mandated that by 2020, NASA must find 90% of all potential Earth-impacting asteroids down to 140 meters across. I may write a book about this search called “Going Rogue – An Asteroid Life”. Here is an excerpt.
I’d rather “stand with our North Korean allies” than be in the path of even a small asteroid streaking towards Earth. Would it be dangerous? You betcha! The asteroid that created the mile-wide impact crater in Arizona was only 25 meters in diameter and packed a wallop about 150 times the force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. I say “Thanks but no thanks” to that kind of risk, even if this size impact occurs only once every few hundred years.
Wednesday: Venus is two and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 6 p.m.
Thursday: Today is Groundhog Day. If Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t see his shadow this morning, he is telling us that he follows the Chinese calendar and that spring starts early. On the Chinese calendar, equinoxes and solstices occur in the middle of their respective seasons. In order for the vernal equinox to occur in the middle of spring, spring must start on February 3 or 4, depending on the year. Thus, if Phil doesn’t see his shadow, legend is that spring will start on February 3 or 4 as on the Chinese calendar. If Phil sees his shadow, he is telling us he agrees with the western calendar and that there will be six more weeks of winter meaning spring will start near March 20.
Friday: Mars is one fist above the east horizon at 10 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Ellensburg Sky for the week of 1/21/12
Saturday: Draco Malfoy makes an appearance in all seven books of the Harry Potter series. Perhaps you’ve heard of these. But, the constellation Draco the dragon makes an appearance in the sky every night. It is a circumpolar constellation as viewed from Ellensburg meaning it never goes below the horizon. The head of the dragon is one fist held upright and at arm’s length above due north at 9 p.m. Eltanin, the brightest star in the constellation, is at one corner of the trapezoid-shaped head of Draco.
Sunday: 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.
Monday: Jupiter is four and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 8 p.m.
Tuesday: How many of you live a sedentary lifestyle? Well, get off the couch, go outside and look at the sky. Mars, which is one fist above the east horizon at 10 p.m., should remind you of the sedentary lifestyle tonight because it is stationary. Being stationary does not mean hovering in the sky all night in the exact same location like that spaceship your weird uncle supposedly saw. A stationary planet still rises and sets with the other objects in the sky because this motion is due to the Earth’s rotation. Outer planets such as Mars typically move slightly westward each night with respect to the background stars. As they are in the process of being passed up by Earth, they appear to slow down and stop their westward motion for a night. Tonight is that night. For an effective demonstration of this, go to http://goo.gl/qGeJE.
Wednesday: Venus is about a fist to the left of the newly crescent Moon low in the western sky at 6 p.m.
Thursday: Are you interested in participating in astronomy research? You don’t need to go back to school. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars getting a fake degree from an online university. The scientists working on the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter would like your input on which objects they should target for close-up pictures. While you may think the scientists are just trying to build interest in their project by having people look at pretty pictures, there is a real scientific benefit to having many eyes searching for interesting targets. There aren’t enough scientists to carefully inspect all of the low power images. And, surprisingly, computers are not nearly as effective as people in making educated judgments of images. So, go to http://www.uahirise.org/ and click on the HiWish button. You’ll be on your way to suggesting close-up targets for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Friday: What is the number one threat to the peaceful use of space? Missiles from rogue nations? Nope. Aliens? You wish they’d take you away after seeing the preview of Men in Black 3. It is space junk. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of space junk orbit the earth, most of it in the main human-made satellite region. The US Department of Defense is tracking over 21,000 objects greater than four inches across to assess the danger they pose. Go to http://www.heavens-above.com to find out what large pieces of that space junk is visible any night. You may select your location from a map, from a list, or enter it manually. The bright object three and a half fists above the south-southwest horizon at 6:30 a.m. is definitely not space junk. It is Saturn.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: 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.
Monday: Jupiter is four and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 8 p.m.
Tuesday: How many of you live a sedentary lifestyle? Well, get off the couch, go outside and look at the sky. Mars, which is one fist above the east horizon at 10 p.m., should remind you of the sedentary lifestyle tonight because it is stationary. Being stationary does not mean hovering in the sky all night in the exact same location like that spaceship your weird uncle supposedly saw. A stationary planet still rises and sets with the other objects in the sky because this motion is due to the Earth’s rotation. Outer planets such as Mars typically move slightly westward each night with respect to the background stars. As they are in the process of being passed up by Earth, they appear to slow down and stop their westward motion for a night. Tonight is that night. For an effective demonstration of this, go to http://goo.gl/qGeJE.
Wednesday: Venus is about a fist to the left of the newly crescent Moon low in the western sky at 6 p.m.
Thursday: Are you interested in participating in astronomy research? You don’t need to go back to school. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars getting a fake degree from an online university. The scientists working on the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter would like your input on which objects they should target for close-up pictures. While you may think the scientists are just trying to build interest in their project by having people look at pretty pictures, there is a real scientific benefit to having many eyes searching for interesting targets. There aren’t enough scientists to carefully inspect all of the low power images. And, surprisingly, computers are not nearly as effective as people in making educated judgments of images. So, go to http://www.uahirise.org/ and click on the HiWish button. You’ll be on your way to suggesting close-up targets for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Friday: What is the number one threat to the peaceful use of space? Missiles from rogue nations? Nope. Aliens? You wish they’d take you away after seeing the preview of Men in Black 3. It is space junk. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of space junk orbit the earth, most of it in the main human-made satellite region. The US Department of Defense is tracking over 21,000 objects greater than four inches across to assess the danger they pose. Go to http://www.heavens-above.com to find out what large pieces of that space junk is visible any night. You may select your location from a map, from a list, or enter it manually. The bright object three and a half fists above the south-southwest horizon at 6:30 a.m. is definitely not space junk. It is Saturn.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Ellensburg Sky for the week of 1/14/12
Saturday: Who can forget that memorable song by Three Dog Constellations Night, “The sky is black. The stars are white. Together we learn to find the light.” Well, maybe it didn’t go like that. This is good because not all stars are white. Most stars are too dim to notice a color. But, the stars in the constellation Orion provide a noticeable contrast. Betelgeuse, five fists held upright and at arm’s length above due south at 10:30 p.m. is a red giant. Rigel, the bright star about two fists to the lower right of Betelgeuse, is a blue giant.
By the way, the three dog constellations are Canis Major, the greater dog; Canis Minor, the lesser dog; and Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs. Canis Major contains Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky.
Sunday: The Weather Girls recorded “It’s Raining Men” in 1982. This weekend, The Phobos-Grunt Boys will be singing, “It’s raining probes, hallelujah. It’s raining probes. Should have gone to Mars. Launched. Burn, didn’t work. Russia’s good at clean and jerk.” Russia launched the unmanned Phobos-Grunt probe on November 9. It was supposed to make the 1.25 year trip to Mars’ moon Phobos, study the surroundings, collect soil samples, and bring them back to Earth. However, the final boost to push it from Earth’s gravitational pull failed and it got stuck in low earth orbit. It is expected to burn up in the atmosphere this weekend with any large pieces reaching Earth on Sunday.
Monday: This morning’s last quarter Moon is in the constellation Virgo, making a small triangle with the bright Spica to its upper right and Saturn to its upper left. The triangle is about three fists above the south horizon at 6:30 a.m.
Tuesday: How do you study the life cycle of a dog? Easy. Get a dog from the animal shelter, care for it for 15 years and study it. How do you study the life cycle of a star? Easy. Pick a star, watch it for a few billion years, and…. Wait a minute. Astronomers can’t observe something for a few billion years. Instead, they study stars that are at different points in their long life cycle and piece together the information from those different stars. What they do is like studying a one-year-old dog for a few minutes, then studying a different two-year-old dog for a few minutes, and so on. The sky in and near the constellation Orion provides an example of four objects at different points of star life.
First, find Rigel, the bright star in the lower right corner of the constellation Orion. This star, rapidly burning its fuel for a high energy but short lived existence, is three and a half fists above due south at 9:30 p.m. About one fist up and to the left are the three objects of Orion’s sword holder. The middle “star” is really a star forming region called the Orion nebula. There you’ll find baby Suns. Now, look about two fists to the right and a little below Rigel. You should be looking at a star that is about one tenth as bright as Rigel but still the brightest in its local region. The third star to the right of that star is Epsilon Eridani, the most Sun-like close and bright star. Betelgeuse, in the upper left corner of Orion, is a star at the end of its life that started out life a bit larger than the Sun.
Wednesday: Jupiter is five fists above the southwest horizon at 8 p.m.
Thursday: January is the coldest month of the year so it is time to turn up the furnace. Fornax the furnace one fist above due south at 7 p.m.
Friday: Venus is two fists above the southwest horizon at 6 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
By the way, the three dog constellations are Canis Major, the greater dog; Canis Minor, the lesser dog; and Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs. Canis Major contains Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky.
Sunday: The Weather Girls recorded “It’s Raining Men” in 1982. This weekend, The Phobos-Grunt Boys will be singing, “It’s raining probes, hallelujah. It’s raining probes. Should have gone to Mars. Launched. Burn, didn’t work. Russia’s good at clean and jerk.” Russia launched the unmanned Phobos-Grunt probe on November 9. It was supposed to make the 1.25 year trip to Mars’ moon Phobos, study the surroundings, collect soil samples, and bring them back to Earth. However, the final boost to push it from Earth’s gravitational pull failed and it got stuck in low earth orbit. It is expected to burn up in the atmosphere this weekend with any large pieces reaching Earth on Sunday.
Monday: This morning’s last quarter Moon is in the constellation Virgo, making a small triangle with the bright Spica to its upper right and Saturn to its upper left. The triangle is about three fists above the south horizon at 6:30 a.m.
Tuesday: How do you study the life cycle of a dog? Easy. Get a dog from the animal shelter, care for it for 15 years and study it. How do you study the life cycle of a star? Easy. Pick a star, watch it for a few billion years, and…. Wait a minute. Astronomers can’t observe something for a few billion years. Instead, they study stars that are at different points in their long life cycle and piece together the information from those different stars. What they do is like studying a one-year-old dog for a few minutes, then studying a different two-year-old dog for a few minutes, and so on. The sky in and near the constellation Orion provides an example of four objects at different points of star life.
First, find Rigel, the bright star in the lower right corner of the constellation Orion. This star, rapidly burning its fuel for a high energy but short lived existence, is three and a half fists above due south at 9:30 p.m. About one fist up and to the left are the three objects of Orion’s sword holder. The middle “star” is really a star forming region called the Orion nebula. There you’ll find baby Suns. Now, look about two fists to the right and a little below Rigel. You should be looking at a star that is about one tenth as bright as Rigel but still the brightest in its local region. The third star to the right of that star is Epsilon Eridani, the most Sun-like close and bright star. Betelgeuse, in the upper left corner of Orion, is a star at the end of its life that started out life a bit larger than the Sun.
Wednesday: Jupiter is five fists above the southwest horizon at 8 p.m.
Thursday: January is the coldest month of the year so it is time to turn up the furnace. Fornax the furnace one fist above due south at 7 p.m.
Friday: Venus is two fists above the southwest horizon at 6 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 1/7/12
Saturday: One Family Affair explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment (as described on Wikipedia). Another family affair explores how a well-to-do Solar System raises its constituents from birth, through growth, change, and death. Just like Buffy and Jody started off full of energy, planets start out hot and molten. Cissy got wrinkles as she approached middle age; planets become cratered as they age. We watched the TV show “Family Affair” to learn about a nontraditional Manhattan family grew and changed. Astronomers study other planets to learn how the Solar System will evolve. For more information about this Solar System Family Affair, go to http://goo.gl/G029D. Mars, one of the most studied members of the Solar System family, is one fist held upright and at arm’s length above the east horizon at 10 p.m.
Sunday: It’s cold. The snow is blowing in your face. Food is scarce. Packs of wild animals are wondering around howling. Does this describe your house after someone broke your window during your New Year’s party? It also describes wolf packs around Native American villages. That’s why many tribes call January’s full moon, which occurs tonight at 11:31, the Full Wolf Moon. It is also called the Moon after Yule.
Monday: The rapper Lil Bow Wow, now known by his adult name, Bow Wow, has a new album coming out soon. The sky has its own lil bow wow coming out every night this winter. Procyon, the brightest star in Canis Minor, the lesser dog, is about three fists above the east-southeast horizon at 10 p.m.
Tuesday: You never see a giraffe on the ground in Ellensburg. But you can look for one every night in the sky. The constellation Camelopardalis the giraffe is circumpolar from Ellensburg’s latitude of 47 degrees north meaning it is always above the horizon. Don’t expect to be overwhelmed by the appearance of the stars in Camelopardalis. The brightest star in the constellation appears only about half as bright as the dimmest star in the Big Dipper. However, the actual luminosities of the three brightest stars in Camelopardalis are very high, each at least 3,000 times more luminous than the Sun. Alpha Camelopardalis, a mind boggling 600,000 times more luminous than the Sun, is seven fists above due north at 10 p.m.
Wednesday: What you see with the naked eye isn’t all that can be seen. While astronomers can learn a lot from observing the sky in the visible wavelengths, many celestial objects radiate more light, and more information, in wavelengths such as radio, microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma ray. Last year, NASA launched the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to study objects that radiate in the infrared range such as asteroids, cool dim stars, and luminous galaxies. For an interesting comparison of how different wavelengths show different aspects of a galaxy, go to http://goo.gl/nvuax. If it wasn’t for infrared telescopes such as WISE, astronomers would not know about the significant amount of dust in galaxies.
Thursday: The ringed planet Saturn and Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, are three fists above the south horizon at 6:30 a.m.
Friday: If Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky, then this is your unlucky year. There are three Fridays that fall on the 13th this year! And they occur 13 weeks apart! And the government is charging an extra $13 tax those Fridays! Okay, I made up that last one. But I’m not making up that Boötes the herdsman is the 13th largest constellation by area. Boötes is a kite-shaped constellation. Arcturus, at the bottom of the Boötes kite and the second brightest star visible from Washington, is six fists above the south horizon at 6:30 a.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: It’s cold. The snow is blowing in your face. Food is scarce. Packs of wild animals are wondering around howling. Does this describe your house after someone broke your window during your New Year’s party? It also describes wolf packs around Native American villages. That’s why many tribes call January’s full moon, which occurs tonight at 11:31, the Full Wolf Moon. It is also called the Moon after Yule.
Monday: The rapper Lil Bow Wow, now known by his adult name, Bow Wow, has a new album coming out soon. The sky has its own lil bow wow coming out every night this winter. Procyon, the brightest star in Canis Minor, the lesser dog, is about three fists above the east-southeast horizon at 10 p.m.
Tuesday: You never see a giraffe on the ground in Ellensburg. But you can look for one every night in the sky. The constellation Camelopardalis the giraffe is circumpolar from Ellensburg’s latitude of 47 degrees north meaning it is always above the horizon. Don’t expect to be overwhelmed by the appearance of the stars in Camelopardalis. The brightest star in the constellation appears only about half as bright as the dimmest star in the Big Dipper. However, the actual luminosities of the three brightest stars in Camelopardalis are very high, each at least 3,000 times more luminous than the Sun. Alpha Camelopardalis, a mind boggling 600,000 times more luminous than the Sun, is seven fists above due north at 10 p.m.
Wednesday: What you see with the naked eye isn’t all that can be seen. While astronomers can learn a lot from observing the sky in the visible wavelengths, many celestial objects radiate more light, and more information, in wavelengths such as radio, microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma ray. Last year, NASA launched the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to study objects that radiate in the infrared range such as asteroids, cool dim stars, and luminous galaxies. For an interesting comparison of how different wavelengths show different aspects of a galaxy, go to http://goo.gl/nvuax. If it wasn’t for infrared telescopes such as WISE, astronomers would not know about the significant amount of dust in galaxies.
Thursday: The ringed planet Saturn and Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, are three fists above the south horizon at 6:30 a.m.
Friday: If Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky, then this is your unlucky year. There are three Fridays that fall on the 13th this year! And they occur 13 weeks apart! And the government is charging an extra $13 tax those Fridays! Okay, I made up that last one. But I’m not making up that Boötes the herdsman is the 13th largest constellation by area. Boötes is a kite-shaped constellation. Arcturus, at the bottom of the Boötes kite and the second brightest star visible from Washington, is six fists above the south horizon at 6:30 a.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
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