Saturday: As Lawrence Welk used to say, “wonderful, wonderful”. It is too bad Mr. Welk isn’t around to introduce us to the star Mira, Latin for “the Wonderful”. Mira is a star that undergoes a huge variation in brightness. At its brightest, it is about 600 times brighter than at its dimmest. For the next week, Mira is near its maximum brightness. Look three and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southwest horizon and two fists below the Moon at 8 p.m. Mira will be the brightest star in that region of the sky, dominated by Mira’s constellation, Cetus the sea monster. At its dimmest, it is not even visible through binoculars. David Fabricius first noted Mira’s variability in 1596 making it the first periodic variable star, other than cataclysmic variables such as novae and supernovae, to be discovered.
Sunday: Have you been shopping all weekend? Do you need an evening sky break? You deserve a big reward so make it a double. A Double Cluster, that is. The Double Cluster, also known as h and Chi Persei, consists of two young open star clusters in the constellation Perseus. Of course, young is a relative term as these clusters are about 13 million years old. Each cluster is spread out over an area about the same size as the full moon. To the naked eye, the Double Cluster shines with a steady, fuzzy glow. Binoculars resolve dozens of individual stars in the clusters. The Double Cluster is six and a half fists above the northeast horizon at 7 p.m., about a fist below the sideways “W” of Cassiopeia.
Monday: Do you like to look in a nursery and say “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl”? Not me. I say, “it’s a star”. Of course, I like looking into a stellar nursery – a star forming region such as the Orion Nebula in the middle of Orion’s sword holder. The Orion Nebula looks like a fuzzy patch to the naked eye. Binoculars reveal a nebula, or region of gas and dust, that is 30 light years across. The center of the nebula contains four hot “baby” stars called the Trapezium. These hot stars emit the ultraviolet radiation that causes the Nebula’s gas to glow. The Orion Nebula is three fists above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m. For more information about the Orion Nebula, go to http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/observe.htm and click on December. It is the last “Go Observe” for 2009, the International Year of Astronomy.
Tuesday: Jupiter is about two and a half fists above the south horizon at 6 p.m. So is Neptune. And, thanks to Jupiter and a well-placed line of stars, it is easier to find with binoculars than usual. Place Jupiter in the lower right hand portion of your binocular field of view. There will be a diagonal line of three stars near the middle of the field of view. The upper right star should be the brightest. Neptune is to the upper left of this line of three stars.
Wednesday: December does not seem to be the month to enjoy a full cold drink. But it is the month to enjoy the Full Cold Moon. This is one of the names some Native American tribes have given the December full moon. Another nickname, long night moon is appropriate for two reasons. First, winter nights are much longer than summer nights. Second, the wintertime full moon is above the horizon a much longer time than a summertime full moon. That is because a full moon is our all night, regardless of season. So the season with the longer nights will be the season with full moons that are out longer.
Thursday: Mars is one and a half fists above the east horizon at 11 p.m.
Friday: Saturn is a little over four 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.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 11/21/09
Saturday: The Nature of Night takes place today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Black Hall on the Central Washington University campus in Ellensburg, WA. There will be planetarium shows, fun nature at night experiments, storytelling, soil from Mars and much more. The event is free. The Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education at CWU and various community sponsors work together to put on this event.
Sunday: Mars is one fist above the east-northeast horizon at 11 p.m.
Monday: Jupiter is about a half a fist to the lower right of the Moon at 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Tonight’s first quarter moon is in the constellation Aquarius the water bearer.
Wednesday: Most constellations don’t look like the object their name refers to. Most constellations don’t have such a simple to object to emulate as Triangulum. As you probably guessed, Triangulum is shaped like a giraffe. Wait…. Just a second…. I read my book wrong. Triangulum is shaped like a thin isosceles triangle. Mothallah is the only named star in the constellation. In Latin it is called Caput Trianguli, the head of the triangle. Triangulum is seven fists above the south horizon at 9 p.m. It is pointing down and to the right with Mothallah being the southernmost star at this time of night. The Triangulum Galaxy can be seen with binoculars about a half a fist to the right of Mothallah.
Thursday: Some of us have a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. But, probably not as much as Andromeda had to be thankful for. 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. Her mother Queen Cassiopeia and her father King Cepheus didn’t know what to do. It seemed that all was lost. But, along came Andromeda’s boyfriend, the great warrior Perseus. 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 monster’s neck and killed it. This was the first time in recorded history that a set of parents actually welcomed an uninvited Thanksgiving visit from the boyfriend. Perseus is about five fists above the east-northeast horizon and Andromeda is about seven fists above the east horizon at 7 p.m.
Friday: Are you thankful that you live in a solar system with multiple planets? You should be. A giant planet like Jupiter cleans up planetary debris that could have collided with Earth and hindered the formation of complex life. Any inhabitants of the planets orbiting Upsilon Andromedae are thankful for this, as well. Upsilon Andromedae, a star in the constellation Andromeda, was the first Sun-like star discovered to have multiple planets orbiting it. So far, all of its planets are giant planets like Jupiter. But, the system is likely to also contain smaller planets. The dim star, but certainly not its planets, is barely visible straight overhead at 9 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Mars is one fist above the east-northeast horizon at 11 p.m.
Monday: Jupiter is about a half a fist to the lower right of the Moon at 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Tonight’s first quarter moon is in the constellation Aquarius the water bearer.
Wednesday: Most constellations don’t look like the object their name refers to. Most constellations don’t have such a simple to object to emulate as Triangulum. As you probably guessed, Triangulum is shaped like a giraffe. Wait…. Just a second…. I read my book wrong. Triangulum is shaped like a thin isosceles triangle. Mothallah is the only named star in the constellation. In Latin it is called Caput Trianguli, the head of the triangle. Triangulum is seven fists above the south horizon at 9 p.m. It is pointing down and to the right with Mothallah being the southernmost star at this time of night. The Triangulum Galaxy can be seen with binoculars about a half a fist to the right of Mothallah.
Thursday: Some of us have a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. But, probably not as much as Andromeda had to be thankful for. 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. Her mother Queen Cassiopeia and her father King Cepheus didn’t know what to do. It seemed that all was lost. But, along came Andromeda’s boyfriend, the great warrior Perseus. 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 monster’s neck and killed it. This was the first time in recorded history that a set of parents actually welcomed an uninvited Thanksgiving visit from the boyfriend. Perseus is about five fists above the east-northeast horizon and Andromeda is about seven fists above the east horizon at 7 p.m.
Friday: Are you thankful that you live in a solar system with multiple planets? You should be. A giant planet like Jupiter cleans up planetary debris that could have collided with Earth and hindered the formation of complex life. Any inhabitants of the planets orbiting Upsilon Andromedae are thankful for this, as well. Upsilon Andromedae, a star in the constellation Andromeda, was the first Sun-like star discovered to have multiple planets orbiting it. So far, all of its planets are giant planets like Jupiter. But, the system is likely to also contain smaller planets. The dim star, but certainly not its planets, is barely visible straight overhead at 9 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 11/14/09
Saturday: Imagine Opie and Andy Taylor walking down the dirt path at night to that fishing hole in the sky. (No, that is not a euphemism for death.) They’d probably be looking to catch Pisces, the two fish already conveniently tied together with two ropes. The ropes are connected at the star Alrescha, Arabic for “the cord”. Alrescha is four and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above due south at 10 p.m. The fish are attached to lines of stars that branch out at one o’clock and three o’clock from Alrescha. By the way, “The Fishing Hole”, The Andy Griffith Show’s theme song was rated the 20th best TV theme song of all time by ign.com. That’s too low in my opinion.
Sunday: November 13, 2009 – the world ends! Wait, maybe it’s December 21, 2012 when the world will end. Maybe you hope it ends the day before your big project that you haven’t even started is due. All of those dates are equally likely. On November 13, 2009, the movie “2012” comes out. (So, I guess that’s the day good movie making ends.) The movie 2012 is about the supposed end of the world predictions made by the Mayan calendar, Nostradamus….What’s that? “Woof, woof”…. And apparently Jack my dog. But, none of the many reasons for the supposed end make sense. There will be no planetary alignment on December 21, 2012. And, even if there was, the gravitational pull of all of the planets on the Earth would not cause a noticeable effect. There is no planet X streaking towards the Earth for a 12/21/2012 rendezvous. And the Earth’s passage through the galactic plane, another theory, can’t be predicted within a few hundred years, much less a precise day. So plan a fun event for December 22, 2012. The day will be there waiting for you. There is a good article about the 2012 scare at http://media.skyandtelescope.com/documents/Doomsday2012-lores.pdf.
Monday: The Leonid meteor shower peaks tonight and tomorrow morning. These meteors appear to come from a point in Leo the lion. This point is about one fist above the east-northeast horizon at midnight tonight. You can follow this point throughout the night and into the morning as it will remain about one fist above the bright star Regulus. Assuming the weather cooperates, this should be a good night to see a lot of meteors because the sky will be moonless as the Moon is in the new phase. The Leonid meteors are particles from the tail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, a comet discovered by Ernst Tempel and Horace Parnell Tuttle around January 1, 1866. Go to http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021116.html to see a picture of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. This year’s shower is expected to be much more active than usual with up to 500 meteors per hour visible throughout the night. As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. If there is anything close to 500 meteors per hour, you’ll want to enjoy it.
Tuesday: Jupiter is two and a half fists above the south horizon at 6 p.m.
Wednesday: Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation Taurus the bull, is two and a half fists above due east at 8 p.m.
Thursday: Saturday, November 21, the Nature of Night takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Black Hall on the CWU campus. There will be planetarium shows, fun nighttime projects, storytelling, cookies and much more. The event is free. Go to www.cwu.edu/~scied or call 963-2929 for more information. The Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education at CWU and various community sponsors work together to put on this event. When you are there, ask about Venus. It is nearly a fist above the southwest horizon at 5:30 p.m. You can even see it in the daytime sky if you know where to look.
Friday: Mars is one fist above the east-northeast horizon at 11 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: November 13, 2009 – the world ends! Wait, maybe it’s December 21, 2012 when the world will end. Maybe you hope it ends the day before your big project that you haven’t even started is due. All of those dates are equally likely. On November 13, 2009, the movie “2012” comes out. (So, I guess that’s the day good movie making ends.) The movie 2012 is about the supposed end of the world predictions made by the Mayan calendar, Nostradamus….What’s that? “Woof, woof”…. And apparently Jack my dog. But, none of the many reasons for the supposed end make sense. There will be no planetary alignment on December 21, 2012. And, even if there was, the gravitational pull of all of the planets on the Earth would not cause a noticeable effect. There is no planet X streaking towards the Earth for a 12/21/2012 rendezvous. And the Earth’s passage through the galactic plane, another theory, can’t be predicted within a few hundred years, much less a precise day. So plan a fun event for December 22, 2012. The day will be there waiting for you. There is a good article about the 2012 scare at http://media.skyandtelescope.com/documents/Doomsday2012-lores.pdf.
Monday: The Leonid meteor shower peaks tonight and tomorrow morning. These meteors appear to come from a point in Leo the lion. This point is about one fist above the east-northeast horizon at midnight tonight. You can follow this point throughout the night and into the morning as it will remain about one fist above the bright star Regulus. Assuming the weather cooperates, this should be a good night to see a lot of meteors because the sky will be moonless as the Moon is in the new phase. The Leonid meteors are particles from the tail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, a comet discovered by Ernst Tempel and Horace Parnell Tuttle around January 1, 1866. Go to http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021116.html to see a picture of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. This year’s shower is expected to be much more active than usual with up to 500 meteors per hour visible throughout the night. As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. If there is anything close to 500 meteors per hour, you’ll want to enjoy it.
Tuesday: Jupiter is two and a half fists above the south horizon at 6 p.m.
Wednesday: Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation Taurus the bull, is two and a half fists above due east at 8 p.m.
Thursday: Saturday, November 21, the Nature of Night takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Black Hall on the CWU campus. There will be planetarium shows, fun nighttime projects, storytelling, cookies and much more. The event is free. Go to www.cwu.edu/~scied or call 963-2929 for more information. The Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education at CWU and various community sponsors work together to put on this event. When you are there, ask about Venus. It is nearly a fist above the southwest horizon at 5:30 p.m. You can even see it in the daytime sky if you know where to look.
Friday: Mars is one fist above the east-northeast horizon at 11 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 11/7/09
Saturday: The North Taurid meteor shower peaks for the next few late nights and early mornings with the night of the 12th being the peak of the peak. This is not a prominent shower but it occasionally produces a couple of bright “fireballs”. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. These meteors appear to come from a point in Taurus the bull. This point is about six fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m. You can follow this point throughout the night as it will remain midway between the bright star Aldebaran (pronounced Al-deb’-a-ran) and the open star cluster, the Pleiades. If you miss the peak tonight, don’t worry. Taurid meteor showers result in a slight increase on meteor activity from mid-October to the beginning of December.
Sunday: The bees are buzzing around both the Moon and Mars tonight. Mars is a half a fist above the Moon at 11:30 p.m. The open star cluster called the Beehive Cluster is about a finger’s width to the right of the Moon. Keep your eye on this part of the sky for the next few nights. The Moon will move eastward, away from Mars and the Beehive Cluster. That means the cluster will much easier to find in the sky and see in detail with binoculars.
Monday: Did you look up Antonia Maury and Edward Pickering based on last week’s Halloween costume suggestion? Antonia Maury developed one of the first comprehensive methods of classifying stars. Edward Pickering was director of the Harvard College Observatory from 1877 until his death in 1919. He recruited many women, including Antonia Maury, to work at the observatory where they made significant contributions to astronomy. They make much better, and more realistic, heroes than rock stars, actors and super models.
Tuesday: Jupiter is two and a half fists above due south at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday: We wish you a Merry Martinmas. We wish you a Merry Martinmas. We wish you a Merry Martinmas. And a happy Wednesday. Martinmas is a holiday in many parts of the world commemorating Saint Martin of Tours. He was buried on November 11, 397. What does this have to astronomy? Not much except that the celebration on November 11 often doubles as a cross-quarter day celebration, a day that is halfway between an equinox and a solstice.
Thursday: Saturn is about one fist to the upper left of the Moon at 6:30 a.m.
Friday: The constellation Lepus the hare is right under the feet of Orion. At 11 p.m., the middle of the hare is one fist above the southeast horizon. Rigel, the brightest star in the constellation Orion, is just above the head of the hare.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: The bees are buzzing around both the Moon and Mars tonight. Mars is a half a fist above the Moon at 11:30 p.m. The open star cluster called the Beehive Cluster is about a finger’s width to the right of the Moon. Keep your eye on this part of the sky for the next few nights. The Moon will move eastward, away from Mars and the Beehive Cluster. That means the cluster will much easier to find in the sky and see in detail with binoculars.
Monday: Did you look up Antonia Maury and Edward Pickering based on last week’s Halloween costume suggestion? Antonia Maury developed one of the first comprehensive methods of classifying stars. Edward Pickering was director of the Harvard College Observatory from 1877 until his death in 1919. He recruited many women, including Antonia Maury, to work at the observatory where they made significant contributions to astronomy. They make much better, and more realistic, heroes than rock stars, actors and super models.
Tuesday: Jupiter is two and a half fists above due south at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday: We wish you a Merry Martinmas. We wish you a Merry Martinmas. We wish you a Merry Martinmas. And a happy Wednesday. Martinmas is a holiday in many parts of the world commemorating Saint Martin of Tours. He was buried on November 11, 397. What does this have to astronomy? Not much except that the celebration on November 11 often doubles as a cross-quarter day celebration, a day that is halfway between an equinox and a solstice.
Thursday: Saturn is about one fist to the upper left of the Moon at 6:30 a.m.
Friday: The constellation Lepus the hare is right under the feet of Orion. At 11 p.m., the middle of the hare is one fist above the southeast horizon. Rigel, the brightest star in the constellation Orion, is just above the head of the hare.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
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