Saturday: The
Leonid meteor shower peaks tonight and tomorrow morning. These meteors appear
to come from a point in the constellation Leo the lion. This point is about one
fist held upright and at arm’s length 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. 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://goo.gl/OPP6D to see a
picture of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in
a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. Even if there are only a dozen
meteors visible per hour, you’ll want to enjoy it.
Sunday: Humm.
Early Sunday morning choices. Roll out of bed just before church. Or get up
early to see Comet ISON. The comet, discovered in 2012, brightened
significantly last week and is approaching naked eye status in the early
morning sky. This morning at 6 a.m., ISON will be about a finger width above
the bright star Spica, a fist and a half above the southeast horizon. Tomorrow
morning at 6 a.m., ISON will be just below Spica, heading towards its closest
approach to the Sun on November 28. By early December, Comet ISON should be
visible in the early evening sky. For updates on Comet ISON’s location and
activity, go to http://www.spaceweather.com/.
By the way, ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a series
of telescopes in 11 countries. And, yes, you should get up early to see ISON. Use
binoculars to increase your chances.
Monday:
When you think of space, the first image that comes to mind is a few large,
massive bodies surrounded by a lot of empty space. After all, it is called
“outer space”, not “outer stuff”. But that so-called empty space is filled with
powerful radiation and high-speed sub-microscopic particles. Much of this is
dangerous to life. However, many planets, including Earth, have a shield
against radiation and particles called a magnetic field. Jupiter’s magnetic
field is the strongest of all the planets. Find Jupiter one fist above the
east-northeast horizon at 9 p.m. For more information about magnetic fields, go
to http://goo.gl/OYShj.
Tuesday: Venus
is one fist above the south-southwest horizon at 5 p.m.
Wednesday:
Sunday: 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 princess.
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 this star is called Caput Trianguli, the head of the triangle. Triangulum
is seven fists held upright and at arm’s length 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:
You know winter is coming when Orion is visible in the evening sky. It is about
a fist above the east-southeast horizon at 9 p.m.
Friday: The
Nature of Night event takes place tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the
Science Building on the CWU campus. There will be planetarium shows, fun
nighttime projects, telescopes, animals, cookies and much more. Go to http://www.cwu.edu/cesme/nature-night
for
more information.
The
positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically
accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky, go to
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