Saturday: Red is a popular Christmas color. It is also a popular star color. And R Leporis, also known as Hind’s Crimson Star, is one of the reddest stars in the sky. It is a star near the end of its life that has burned its helium nuclei into carbon. Convective currents, like those in a pot of boiling water, bring this carbon to the surface. There it forms a layer of soot that scatters away the light from the blue end of the visible spectrum leaving the light from the red end of the spectrum to reach our eyes. For more information about Hind’s Crimson Star and a list of other deep red stars, go to http://goo.gl/EnhRe4. Hind’s Crimson star is one fist to the lower right of Rigel, the brightest star in Orion. You’ll need binoculars or a small telescope to see Hind's Crimson star. But you can easily spot Rigel two and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the south-southeastern horizon at 10:00 p.m.
Sunday: 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/o89A4o
for more information.
These three celestial objects are visible in the early
evening sky tonight. At 5:00 p.m., Aries is five fists above the
east-southeastern horizon. Jupiter is four fists above the south-southeastern
horizon. The moon is one fist above the south-southwestern horizon. To the
lower right of the moon are the planets Mercury and Venus. Venus is the bright
point of light right above the southwestern horizon. Mercury
Monday: Did you get a new telescope for Christmas? The next
item on your list should be a sky watching app for your phone. These apps will
help you to get familiar with the constellations and bright stars. Then you can
zoom into an area of interest and learn about objects that are visible through
your telescope. I like SkySafari, a free app or low-cost iPhones app (depending
on their promotions at the time). But there are many other good ones to choose
from for little or no money. Go to https://www.lifewire.com/best-stargazing-apps-5086553
for seven short reviews. One of your first targets should be the Pleiades open
star cluster. It is bright, easy to see with the naked eye and even more
interesting in binoculars. It is six fists above due southeast at 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday: Mars is six and a half fists above due south at
10:00 p.m.
Wednesday: Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is
one and a half fists above due southeast at 9:00 p.m.
Thursday: It’s a beautiful day in our solar neighborhood. We
know that because the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission published the third
edition of its star catalog last year. It is an ultra-precise overview of the
position of the nearest nearly two billion stars. While you wait to get your
COVID-19 booster shot, take a virtual walk through your celestial neighborhood
with some friends by going to https://youtu.be/BknZ2YxegIk.
Friday: Aside from the Big Dipper, the northern sky doesn’t
get enough love. Vega, the bright star in the constellation Lyra, is one fist
above due northwest at 8:00 p.m.
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.
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