Saturday: I
know you’re staying up late to train yourself to wait up for Santa. So look out
a south-facing window at 12:30 a.m. and see Sirius, the brightest star in the
nighttime sky, as high as it ever gets in the sky. It is two and a half fists
held upright and at arm’s length above due south.
Sunday: The autumn
star Fomalhaut is one fist above the south-southwest horizon at 6 p.m. It is getting ready for its winter nap.
Monday: Where
is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw Jupiter being eclipsed by
the Moon in the east and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2, Bruce
Palmquist version, informed by Michael Molnar). There are many theories as to
the physical explanation of the Star of Bethlehem, the celestial object that
guided the wise men to the location of Jesus. Some people think it was a
recurring nova, a star that explodes. Some think it was a close alignment of
bright planets. Some think it was a miracle that requires no physical
explanation. In 1991, astronomer Michael Molnar bought an ancient Roman Empire
coin that depicted a ram looking back at a star. Aries the ram was a symbol for
Judea, the birthplace of Jesus. The Magi, or “wise men”, who visited the baby
Jesus practiced astrology and would have been looking in that region of the sky
for the king prophesied in the Old Testament. Molnar, a modern day wise person,
used sky simulation software to model the positions of planets and the Moon in
the region of Aries. According to his model, Jupiter was eclipsed, or blocked,
by the Moon on the morning of April 17, 6 BC. A book written by the astrologer
of Constantine the Great in 334 AD supports Molnar’s theory. The book describes
an eclipse of Jupiter in Aries and notes a man of divine nature born during
this time. See https://goo.gl/SwkLcL
for more information.
The moon,
Aries, and Jupiter make an appearance in the Christmas sky. At 7 a.m., Jupiter
is two fists above the southeast horizon. At 8 p.m., the dim constellation
Aries is six and a half fists above due south and the moon is three fists above
the southwest horizon.
Tuesday: Is
your favorite someone lamenting that she didn’t get that space-related calendar
that she wanted? Are you sad that you ran out of money and can’t fulfill her
last-minute wish? Worry not. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has a free calendar
summarizing much of the work that it has done. Download the calendar at https://goo.gl/hFu1UB.
Wednesday: Did you get a new telescope for Christmas? Skyandtelescope.com
has a good article on how to get started using it. Go to https://goo.gl/c8fol5.
Any observing tip about the night sky should include Mars. Even a small
telescope will enable you to see how the angular size of Mars changes
drastically from when Earth and Mars are far apart, as they are now, to when
they are close together, as they will be in July of 2018. In fact, in July of 2018,
Mars will be closer to the Earth than any year since 2003. Mars is two and a
half fists above the south-southeast horizon at 7 p.m.
Thursday: Mercury is a good small telescope target when it far enough from
the Sun in the sky, as it is this morning at 7 a.m. when it is a little less
than a fist above the southeast horizon.
Friday: You’ve
heard the term “a pinch to grow an inch.” Come on. Now I know you have. While
there is no pinching involved, the distance between the Earth and moon
increases by about an inch a year. Does it look farther tonight than when you
looked at it on Monday? It’s 4/365ths of an inch farther from the Earth.
The
positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically
accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky,
go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
No comments:
Post a Comment