Saturday: You know Metis and Thebe and Adrastea and Amalthea. Io and Ganymede and Callisto and Europa. But do you recall? There are 63 Jovian moons in all. Less than 50 years ago, Jupiter was thought to have only 12 moons. But, astronomers are red-nosed with delight that the advent of supersensitive electronic cameras has caused the number of discovered moons to rapidly increase. Jupiter’s 63 moons range in size from Ganymede, with a diameter of 5,262 kilometers, to S/2002 J12 and S/2003 J9, with a diameter of only one kilometer. Our moon has a diameter of 3,475 kilometers. (One kilometer is 0.62 miles.) Saturn is second place in the moon race with 61. Uranus is next with 27. Then comes Neptune with 13, Mars with 2, and Earth with 1. Even dwarf planets have moons. Pluto has 3, Eris has 1, and Haumea has 2. Eris is an outer solar system object that was discovered in 2005 and named in September of 2006. Because astronomers thought it was larger than Pluto, people called it the tenth planet for a while. (More recent measurements show Eris to be a little smaller than Pluto.) Haumea, the newest dwarf planet, was discovered in 2004 and officially named a dwarf planet on September 17, 2008. Saturn, in second place on the moon list, is three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east horizon at 9 p.m. Go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/A_Guide_to_Planetary_Satellites.html for more information about moons.
Sunday: Are you thirsty. I’ll wait while you get some water. I will NOT wait while Corvus the crow gets you some water. The Greco-Roman god Apollo made this mistake. He sent Corvus the crow to get some water in the cup known as Crater. Corvus got distracted by some figs and he waited for them to ripen so he could eat them. When Corvus got back late, Apollo put Corvus and Crater in the sky with the gently tipping cup just out of the reach of the perpetually thirsty crow. Corvus is a trapezoid-shaped constellation about two fists above due south at 11 p.m. Crater is just to the right of Corvus.
Monday: “Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink” is from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. (No not Ichiro.) But is could be the slogan of our solar system. Astronomers used to think that the solar system was dry with earth being the only place to find water. It turns out that the solar system has an abundance of water, Comets are made of water ice. Some astronomers think they be the source of some, or even most, of Earth’s water. Jupiter’s Moon Europa has a crust of frozen water covering a large ocean containing more water than all of the Earth’s oceans. Even the Moon, thought to be dry as a bone, has frozen ice deep in its polar craters. Take a swim in the watery last quarter Moon this morning. Once you dry off, visit http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss/display.cfm?Year=2011&Month=4 to read more about solar system water.
Tuesday: 50 years ago this morning, Jupiter and Saturn were in line with the constellation Capricornus the sea goat. What does this mean for a person born on that day? Maybe they like swimming as symbolized by the water reference. Maybe they were raised in crowded conditions as symbolized by the two largest planets being in one constellation. Or maybe the location of the planets on the day you were born has nothing to do with what you become as an adult. Maybe you turn out to be a great person, loved by those close to you, because of the choices you make and the hard work that you do. That’s what I think. Take that, astrology!
Wednesday: Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky, is one and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 8:30 p.m.
Thursday: Vega is one fist above the northeast horizon at 9:30 p.m.
Friday: Hydra the water snake rears its ugly head in the southwest sky at 10 p.m. First find Procyon. This bright star is two and a half fists above the west-southwest horizon. Next, find Saturn and Regulus right next to each other, five fists above the southwest horizon. Now, draw an imaginary line between Procyon and Regulus. Just below the midway point of that line, you should see a clump of stars that make the shape of a crooked house. This is the head of Hydra. The brightest star in the constellation, called Alphard, is three fists above the south horizon, midway between Regulus and the horizon. There are no other bright stars in the area. So it makes sense that the name Alphard means “the solitary one”.
As you may have noticed, Hydra is just below Corvus and Crater. Apollo put Hydra in the sky to keep Corvus from drinking the water from the cup.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 4/16/11
Saturday: Saturn is a fist held out at arm’s length to the upper left of the Moon low in the southeast sky at 8 p.m. You may follow them throughout the night until they set at about 5 a.m. tomorrow morning. And if you can force yourself to stay awake or if you get up before sunrise or stay up very late any night this week, be on the lookout for meteors coming from nearly straight overhead near dawn. The Lyrid meteor shower is active this week.
Sunday: Do you like pop music? You don’t? So, so what. In the first draft of her biggest hit, the singer P!nk wrote “Waiter just took my full moon, and gave it to Jessica Simps”. Sit. Read about the April full Moon which occurs tonight. Some Native American tribes called the April full moon the full pink moon because its arrival coincided with the blooming of wild ground phlox, a pink wild flower.
Monday: Vega is two fists above the northeast horizon at 11 p.m.
Tuesday: The nighttime stars take little more than an instant to rise. The Moon takers about two minutes to rise. That’s absolutely speedy compared to the constellation Virgo which takes four hours to rise. The first star in Virgo rises at 4:30 in the afternoon today. Spica, the brightest star in the constellation, rises at 7:30. By 9 p.m., Spica is a fist and a half above the southeast horizon. The middle section of Virgo will be marked by the planet Saturn for the next few months. Saturn is three fists above the southeast horizon at 9 p.m.
Wednesday: How many of you know your 12 nearest neighbors? I thought so. Why don’t you go out and meet them right now. I’ll wait. Yes, of course bring them cookies. No, not those stale ones you hate.
Are you back already? That means you didn’t really go out and meet your 12 nearest stellar neighbors, did you? Including the Sun, there are 12 stars within 10 light years of Earth. The most well known are the Sun (obviously); Proxima Centauri, the nearest star other than the Sun; Alpha Centauri, a bright binary star visible from the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere; and Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky. Sirius is the largest and most luminous star in our neighborhood. It is one and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 9 p.m.
Thursday: Remember the old saying: April showers bring… meteors. The Lyrid meteor shower is typically active from tonight to April 27. The meteors appear to come from a point to the right of the bright bluish star Vega in the constellation Lyra the lyre. This point is about three fists above the east-northeast horizon at midnight tonight and close to straight over head near dawn. The best time to look is just before dawn since that is when the radiant, or point from which the meteors appear to come, is high in the sky. This year, the light from the waning gibbous Moon will obscure the dimmer meteors. As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. Meteors are tiny rocks that hit the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. This is typically one of the least interesting major meteor showers of the year with about 10-20 bright meteors per hour. However, it is also one of the most unpredictable. As recently as 1982, there were 90 meteors visible during a single hour. In addition, the Lyrid meteor shower has historical interest because it was one of the first ones observed. Chinese records say “stars fell like rain” in the shower of 687 B.C.
Friday: Venus is less than a fist above the east horizon at 5:30 a.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Do you like pop music? You don’t? So, so what. In the first draft of her biggest hit, the singer P!nk wrote “Waiter just took my full moon, and gave it to Jessica Simps”. Sit. Read about the April full Moon which occurs tonight. Some Native American tribes called the April full moon the full pink moon because its arrival coincided with the blooming of wild ground phlox, a pink wild flower.
Monday: Vega is two fists above the northeast horizon at 11 p.m.
Tuesday: The nighttime stars take little more than an instant to rise. The Moon takers about two minutes to rise. That’s absolutely speedy compared to the constellation Virgo which takes four hours to rise. The first star in Virgo rises at 4:30 in the afternoon today. Spica, the brightest star in the constellation, rises at 7:30. By 9 p.m., Spica is a fist and a half above the southeast horizon. The middle section of Virgo will be marked by the planet Saturn for the next few months. Saturn is three fists above the southeast horizon at 9 p.m.
Wednesday: How many of you know your 12 nearest neighbors? I thought so. Why don’t you go out and meet them right now. I’ll wait. Yes, of course bring them cookies. No, not those stale ones you hate.
Are you back already? That means you didn’t really go out and meet your 12 nearest stellar neighbors, did you? Including the Sun, there are 12 stars within 10 light years of Earth. The most well known are the Sun (obviously); Proxima Centauri, the nearest star other than the Sun; Alpha Centauri, a bright binary star visible from the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere; and Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky. Sirius is the largest and most luminous star in our neighborhood. It is one and a half fists above the southwest horizon at 9 p.m.
Thursday: Remember the old saying: April showers bring… meteors. The Lyrid meteor shower is typically active from tonight to April 27. The meteors appear to come from a point to the right of the bright bluish star Vega in the constellation Lyra the lyre. This point is about three fists above the east-northeast horizon at midnight tonight and close to straight over head near dawn. The best time to look is just before dawn since that is when the radiant, or point from which the meteors appear to come, is high in the sky. This year, the light from the waning gibbous Moon will obscure the dimmer meteors. As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. Meteors are tiny rocks that hit the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. This is typically one of the least interesting major meteor showers of the year with about 10-20 bright meteors per hour. However, it is also one of the most unpredictable. As recently as 1982, there were 90 meteors visible during a single hour. In addition, the Lyrid meteor shower has historical interest because it was one of the first ones observed. Chinese records say “stars fell like rain” in the shower of 687 B.C.
Friday: Venus is less than a fist above the east horizon at 5:30 a.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 4/9/11
Saturday: This month is Global Astronomy Month (www.gam-awb.org). Astronomers around the world want to reconnect people with the night sky, thus their slogan: One People, One Sky. For a summary of Global Astronomy Month events, click on “Events” at the top of the right-hand column. The feature event for this week, April 10-16, is Lunar Week. May I suggest OPTICKS, a live audio-video transmission performance between the Earth and the Moon? Amateur astronomers from around the world will bounce radio signals off of the Moon. These signals will be collected by a telescope in The Netherlands and webcast. The event starts tomorrow at 11 a.m., Pacific Daylight Time. For more information about lunar Week, go to http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/programs/lunar.html.
Sunday: You probably didn’t know this but several British New Wave bands were really into astronomy. Take the band “Dead or Alive” (please). The original lyrics to their song “You Spin my Round (Like a Record) were thought to be: “ You spin me right round, baby, right round, like the Whirlpool Galaxy, right round, round, round.” (Well, that’s what I thought them to be.) The Whirlpool Galaxy was the first galaxy observed to have a spiral shape. Since then, astronomers have discovered many galaxies, including our own Milky Way Galaxy, have a spiral shape. Go to astronomy2009.nasa.gov/observe_apr.htm for more information about the Whirlpool Galaxy. Go to your small telescope to find the Whirlpool Galaxy in the night sky. It is in the constellation Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs. At 10 p.m., find Alkaid, the end star of the Big Dipper handle, five fists held upright and at arm’s length above the northeast horizon. The Whirlpool Galaxy is two fingers to the upper right of Alkaid.
Monday: Tonight’s first quarter moon is six fists above due south at 8 p.m., midway between the bright stars Pollux above it and Procyon below.
Tuesday: Avast ye matey. Swab the poop deck. Pirates love astronomy. In fact, the term “poop” in poop deck comes from the French word for stern (poupe) which comes for the Latin word Puppis. Puppis is a constellation that represents the raised stern deck of Argo Navis, the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology. Argo Nevis was an ancient constellation that is now divided between the constellations Puppis, Vela and Carina. The top of Puppis is about a fist and a half to the left of the bright star Sirius in the south-southwest sky at 9 p.m. Rho Puppis, one of the brightest stars in the constellation, is about one and a half fists above the south-southwest horizon at this time.
Wednesday: Venus is a half a fist above the east horizon at 6 a.m.
Thursday: Are you thirsty? Crater the cup is two and half fists above the south-southeast horizon at 10 p.m. Hopefully you are not too thirsty because the cup is nearly tilted on its side. Its opening is pointing toward Saturn and Spica, the brightest objects in that portion of the sky.
Friday: Saturn is three fists above the southeast horizon at 10 p.m., one fist above Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: You probably didn’t know this but several British New Wave bands were really into astronomy. Take the band “Dead or Alive” (please). The original lyrics to their song “You Spin my Round (Like a Record) were thought to be: “ You spin me right round, baby, right round, like the Whirlpool Galaxy, right round, round, round.” (Well, that’s what I thought them to be.) The Whirlpool Galaxy was the first galaxy observed to have a spiral shape. Since then, astronomers have discovered many galaxies, including our own Milky Way Galaxy, have a spiral shape. Go to astronomy2009.nasa.gov/observe_apr.htm for more information about the Whirlpool Galaxy. Go to your small telescope to find the Whirlpool Galaxy in the night sky. It is in the constellation Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs. At 10 p.m., find Alkaid, the end star of the Big Dipper handle, five fists held upright and at arm’s length above the northeast horizon. The Whirlpool Galaxy is two fingers to the upper right of Alkaid.
Monday: Tonight’s first quarter moon is six fists above due south at 8 p.m., midway between the bright stars Pollux above it and Procyon below.
Tuesday: Avast ye matey. Swab the poop deck. Pirates love astronomy. In fact, the term “poop” in poop deck comes from the French word for stern (poupe) which comes for the Latin word Puppis. Puppis is a constellation that represents the raised stern deck of Argo Navis, the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology. Argo Nevis was an ancient constellation that is now divided between the constellations Puppis, Vela and Carina. The top of Puppis is about a fist and a half to the left of the bright star Sirius in the south-southwest sky at 9 p.m. Rho Puppis, one of the brightest stars in the constellation, is about one and a half fists above the south-southwest horizon at this time.
Wednesday: Venus is a half a fist above the east horizon at 6 a.m.
Thursday: Are you thirsty? Crater the cup is two and half fists above the south-southeast horizon at 10 p.m. Hopefully you are not too thirsty because the cup is nearly tilted on its side. Its opening is pointing toward Saturn and Spica, the brightest objects in that portion of the sky.
Friday: Saturn is three fists above the southeast horizon at 10 p.m., one fist above Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 4/2/11
Saturday: Some people in town today for the Yakima River Canyon Marathon may be looking for a little running inspiration. While nothing can take the place of a 20 mile long run for marathon preparation (I know), certain objects in the night sky are inspiring. In the Bible, Job specifically mentions the star Arcturus, or the bear keeper, to his friend as a sign of God's majesty. He describes God as that "Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers (constellations) of the south" (Job 9:9, King James Version). Whatever your religious beliefs, it is clear that Job was impressed with this very bright star. See the star that inspired Job about one and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east horizon at 9 p.m.
Sunday: The bright star Deneb is a half a fist above the north horizon at 11 p.m.
Monday: Saturn is opposition tonight. That doesn’t mean that Saturn is a teenager. Opposition means that Saturn is on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun. When an object is in opposition, it is at its highest point in the sky during the darkest time of the day. Thus, opposition is typically the best time to observe a planet. Saturn is about four fists above the south horizon at 1 a.m. It is two fists above the southeast horizon at 9 p.m.
If you remember this column from 2/23/2008, 3/8/2009, and 3/21/2010, you know that Saturn was also in opposition on those dates. Thus, it is in opposition about two weeks later each year. Two weeks is about one twenty-fourth of a year. This implies that it takes Saturn about 24 years to make one orbit around the Sun and get back in line with the same stars again. Saturn’s actual orbital period of 30 years matches this approximation quite well.
Tuesday: Give me a “W”. Cassiopeia, a W-shaped group of stars is two fists above the north horizon at 11 p.m.
Wednesday: Orion is getting lower and lower in the nighttime sky. Its second brightest star Betelgeuse is only one and a half fists above the west-southwest horizon at 11 p.m.
Thursday: This April, the hot topic in the tabloids is anyone in the Kardashian family. During April 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, the “Hot Topic” Astronomy was galaxies and the distant universe. When Galileo turned his telescope to the seemingly continuous band of light in the sky, he discovered it consisted of countless faint stars. This extended our celestial neighborhood from a few thousand stars to millions of stars. This neighborhood configuration lasted until the 1920’s when Edwin Hubble discovered that there are other galaxies with millions, or even billions, of stars just like our own galaxy. We may lose interest in celebrity break-ups but galaxies are always hot. At 11 p.m., you can see the thick band of the Milky Way galaxy starting at the northeast horizon, moving west through the bright star Deneb, through Cassiopeia, just above Betelgeuse and the Moon, under the feet of Gemini, and settling into the southwest horizon near Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky. Follow this same track at this same time in a few nights when the Moon is not above the horizon to see the Milky Way even better.
Friday: Venus is a half a fist above the east horizon at 6 a.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: The bright star Deneb is a half a fist above the north horizon at 11 p.m.
Monday: Saturn is opposition tonight. That doesn’t mean that Saturn is a teenager. Opposition means that Saturn is on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun. When an object is in opposition, it is at its highest point in the sky during the darkest time of the day. Thus, opposition is typically the best time to observe a planet. Saturn is about four fists above the south horizon at 1 a.m. It is two fists above the southeast horizon at 9 p.m.
If you remember this column from 2/23/2008, 3/8/2009, and 3/21/2010, you know that Saturn was also in opposition on those dates. Thus, it is in opposition about two weeks later each year. Two weeks is about one twenty-fourth of a year. This implies that it takes Saturn about 24 years to make one orbit around the Sun and get back in line with the same stars again. Saturn’s actual orbital period of 30 years matches this approximation quite well.
Tuesday: Give me a “W”. Cassiopeia, a W-shaped group of stars is two fists above the north horizon at 11 p.m.
Wednesday: Orion is getting lower and lower in the nighttime sky. Its second brightest star Betelgeuse is only one and a half fists above the west-southwest horizon at 11 p.m.
Thursday: This April, the hot topic in the tabloids is anyone in the Kardashian family. During April 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, the “Hot Topic” Astronomy was galaxies and the distant universe. When Galileo turned his telescope to the seemingly continuous band of light in the sky, he discovered it consisted of countless faint stars. This extended our celestial neighborhood from a few thousand stars to millions of stars. This neighborhood configuration lasted until the 1920’s when Edwin Hubble discovered that there are other galaxies with millions, or even billions, of stars just like our own galaxy. We may lose interest in celebrity break-ups but galaxies are always hot. At 11 p.m., you can see the thick band of the Milky Way galaxy starting at the northeast horizon, moving west through the bright star Deneb, through Cassiopeia, just above Betelgeuse and the Moon, under the feet of Gemini, and settling into the southwest horizon near Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky. Follow this same track at this same time in a few nights when the Moon is not above the horizon to see the Milky Way even better.
Friday: Venus is a half a fist above the east horizon at 6 a.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 3/26/11
Saturday: Say good bye to Jupiter. It is just above the west horizon at 7:45 p.m. You may need binoculars to find it hiding in the glare of the setting Sun. Over the next few weeks, Jupiter will move behind the Sun and show up in the early morning sky.
Sunday: Venus, the brightest planet, is a half a fist held upright and at arm's length above the southeast horizon at 6:15 a.m. Neptune, the dimmest planet, is just to the upper right of Venus. But, you'll need binoculars to find it. When Venus is at the center of your field of view, Neptune will be the dim point of light at the 2 o'clock position.
Monday: Mercury and its human-made moon are one fist above the west horizon at 8 p.m. The "moon", also known as MESSENGER or MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, orbits Mercury once every 12 hours, getting as close as 124 miles from the surface of the planet. For comparison, the International Space Station orbits about 200 miles above the Earth's surface. For more information about the MESSENGER mission, go to http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/.
Tuesday: Leo the lion prowls the sky in the late winter and early spring. Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation, is five fists above the southeast horizon at 9 p.m.
Wednesday: So far this week, I have written about Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Neptune. Do you even care about these planets or does another planet really catch your fancy? If you’d like to learn what certain people’s favorite planet is, go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pluto/favorite.html and click on “Launch Interactive”. The public TV special called “The Pluto Files” has set up a website in which astronomers give a 30-second pitch for why a certain planet might be their favorite. After listening to the pitch, you may vote for your favorite planet. Of course, you may also do what most people do for political elections: vote for the candidate with the best name or the one with the most interesting campaign slogan. So whether you carefully consider each planet's merits or simply “Pick Uranus”, go to “The Pluto Files” and vote. Saturn will be holding a campaign rally tonight at 11 p.m., two fists above the southeast horizon.
Thursday: Venus is about a half a fist to the lower right of the Moon in the eastern sky at 6 a.m.
Friday: After a long journey through space, there is nothing will quench your thirst better than a few drops of refreshing Mars water. Wait! Is this an April Fool’s Day joke? No. Last year, after analyzing photos taken by the Mars Phoenix Lander, a group of astronomers discovered what they interpreted as drops of very salty liquid water on one of the Lander’s legs. But we are not going to travel 18 months to Mars just to lick a few drops of water off a metal leg. We want waterfront property if we are going all that way. The high resolution camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken images of dark rivulets form, grow, and fade in the Martian southern hemisphere. Even though Mars is very cold, this liquid could contain enough salt to lower its freezing point by more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Mars and that refreshing water rises due east just before the Sun. For more information about liquid water on Mars, go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/117806243.html.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Venus, the brightest planet, is a half a fist held upright and at arm's length above the southeast horizon at 6:15 a.m. Neptune, the dimmest planet, is just to the upper right of Venus. But, you'll need binoculars to find it. When Venus is at the center of your field of view, Neptune will be the dim point of light at the 2 o'clock position.
Monday: Mercury and its human-made moon are one fist above the west horizon at 8 p.m. The "moon", also known as MESSENGER or MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, orbits Mercury once every 12 hours, getting as close as 124 miles from the surface of the planet. For comparison, the International Space Station orbits about 200 miles above the Earth's surface. For more information about the MESSENGER mission, go to http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/.
Tuesday: Leo the lion prowls the sky in the late winter and early spring. Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation, is five fists above the southeast horizon at 9 p.m.
Wednesday: So far this week, I have written about Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Neptune. Do you even care about these planets or does another planet really catch your fancy? If you’d like to learn what certain people’s favorite planet is, go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pluto/favorite.html and click on “Launch Interactive”. The public TV special called “The Pluto Files” has set up a website in which astronomers give a 30-second pitch for why a certain planet might be their favorite. After listening to the pitch, you may vote for your favorite planet. Of course, you may also do what most people do for political elections: vote for the candidate with the best name or the one with the most interesting campaign slogan. So whether you carefully consider each planet's merits or simply “Pick Uranus”, go to “The Pluto Files” and vote. Saturn will be holding a campaign rally tonight at 11 p.m., two fists above the southeast horizon.
Thursday: Venus is about a half a fist to the lower right of the Moon in the eastern sky at 6 a.m.
Friday: After a long journey through space, there is nothing will quench your thirst better than a few drops of refreshing Mars water. Wait! Is this an April Fool’s Day joke? No. Last year, after analyzing photos taken by the Mars Phoenix Lander, a group of astronomers discovered what they interpreted as drops of very salty liquid water on one of the Lander’s legs. But we are not going to travel 18 months to Mars just to lick a few drops of water off a metal leg. We want waterfront property if we are going all that way. The high resolution camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken images of dark rivulets form, grow, and fade in the Martian southern hemisphere. Even though Mars is very cold, this liquid could contain enough salt to lower its freezing point by more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Mars and that refreshing water rises due east just before the Sun. For more information about liquid water on Mars, go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/117806243.html.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 3/12/11
Saturday: Don't forget to set you clocks ahead one hour tonight for the annual ritual called daylight savings. Daylight savings originated in the United States during World War I to save energy for the war effort. But a recent study by two economists shows that switching to daylight savings time may actually lead to higher utility bills. When the economists compared the last three years of energy bills in the section of Indiana that just started observing daylight savings, they discovered that switching to daylight savings cost Indiana utility customers $8.6 million in electricity. In an even more important consequence of daylight savings, Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia discovered a 7% jump in traffic accidents on the Monday after we "spring ahead". Blame it on the lost hour of sleep. And, sky watchers will lose even more sleep because the sky does not get dark for an additional hour.
Sunday: Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, is a half a fist above the west horizon at 8 p.m. Mercury, the smallest planet in the Solar System, is a couple finger widths to the lower right of Jupiter.
Monday: The Moon is midway between the twin stars in Gemini and the little Dog Star. Procyon, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor, or the lesser dog, is one and a half fists below the Moon. Pollux and Castor are about a fist above the Moon. All of these objects are in the southern sky at 9 p.m.
Tuesday: Vega is a little more than a half a fist above the northeast horizon at 11:30 p.m.
Wednesday: This Saturday is Earth Sun day. For more information, go to http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2011/index.php.
Thursday: Mercury is the naked eye planet we know the least about. That may soon change because NASA’s Messenger probe is scheduled to start orbiting Mercury today. It will be the first visitor to the planet one Messenger scientist called the most under-appreciated planet since 1974. The number one question scientists hope to answer is why Mercury has such a large iron core compared to its size. The number one question you may be asking is “Why is Mercury in a different location with respect to Jupiter since Sunday?”. It is now about a finger width to the upper right of Jupiter. Since mercury is so close to the Sun, it moves very fast in its orbit so it changes positions in the sky much faster than an outer planet such as Jupiter.
Friday: Ask someone on which day in March the day becomes longer than the night. Go ahead, ask someone. Why are you still reading this? I can wait. If they said the first or second day of spring, they are wrong. Today, two days before the first day of spring, is the day in which there are more minutes of daylight than night. There are two main reasons for this. First, the atmosphere acts like a lens, bending light from the Sun above the horizon when the Sun is actually below the horizon. This makes the Sun appear to rise before it actually rises and appear to set after is actually sets. Second, spring starts when the center of the Sun passes through the point called the vernal equinox. But, the Sun is not a point. The upper edge of the Sun rises about a minute before the center of the Sun and the lower edge sets a minute after the center of the Sun. Thus, even if we didn’t have an atmosphere that bends the sunlight, daytime on the first day of spring would still be longer than 12 hours.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, is a half a fist above the west horizon at 8 p.m. Mercury, the smallest planet in the Solar System, is a couple finger widths to the lower right of Jupiter.
Monday: The Moon is midway between the twin stars in Gemini and the little Dog Star. Procyon, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor, or the lesser dog, is one and a half fists below the Moon. Pollux and Castor are about a fist above the Moon. All of these objects are in the southern sky at 9 p.m.
Tuesday: Vega is a little more than a half a fist above the northeast horizon at 11:30 p.m.
Wednesday: This Saturday is Earth Sun day. For more information, go to http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2011/index.php.
Thursday: Mercury is the naked eye planet we know the least about. That may soon change because NASA’s Messenger probe is scheduled to start orbiting Mercury today. It will be the first visitor to the planet one Messenger scientist called the most under-appreciated planet since 1974. The number one question scientists hope to answer is why Mercury has such a large iron core compared to its size. The number one question you may be asking is “Why is Mercury in a different location with respect to Jupiter since Sunday?”. It is now about a finger width to the upper right of Jupiter. Since mercury is so close to the Sun, it moves very fast in its orbit so it changes positions in the sky much faster than an outer planet such as Jupiter.
Friday: Ask someone on which day in March the day becomes longer than the night. Go ahead, ask someone. Why are you still reading this? I can wait. If they said the first or second day of spring, they are wrong. Today, two days before the first day of spring, is the day in which there are more minutes of daylight than night. There are two main reasons for this. First, the atmosphere acts like a lens, bending light from the Sun above the horizon when the Sun is actually below the horizon. This makes the Sun appear to rise before it actually rises and appear to set after is actually sets. Second, spring starts when the center of the Sun passes through the point called the vernal equinox. But, the Sun is not a point. The upper edge of the Sun rises about a minute before the center of the Sun and the lower edge sets a minute after the center of the Sun. Thus, even if we didn’t have an atmosphere that bends the sunlight, daytime on the first day of spring would still be longer than 12 hours.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Ellensburg sky for the week of 3/5/11
Saturday: “The crow rises in the southeast” said spy number one. “I’m sorry. I don’t recognize that code” replied spy number two. Spy one exclaimed, “That’s because it’s not a code, you idiot. I’m talking about the constellation Corvus the crow.” This very bad spy movie dialogue is to remind you that Corvus had a very bad life. According to one myth, Corvus brought the god Apollo the news that his girlfriend was seeing someone else. In a classic case of punishing the messenger, Apollo turned the formerly beautifully colored crow black. The box-shaped Corvus is one fist held upright and at arm’s length above the southeast horizon at 10 p.m.
Sunday: Jupiter is about a half a fist to the lower left of the Moon at 7 p.m. Enjoy Jupiter while you can because it is moving toward the Sun in the evening sky. Within a couple of weeks, it will be lost in the glare of the setting Sun.
Monday: 2009 was the International Year of Astronomy. Even though 2009 is long gone, astronomy lives on in the “Hot Topic” of the month. For March, the hot topic is observing at night… and in the day. Technology has expanded the amount of information astronomers can learn from observing the sky. Up until the mid 1900s, we studied the sky using a very narrow portion of the electromagnetic spectrum – visible light waves. It was like studying music by listening only to notes of medium pitch. The invention of the radio telescope opened up a new source of information, long wavelength radiation. It also opened a new time to observe the sky – the day time. Radio waves from outer space are not blocked by the sunlit sky like visible light from outer space is. For the past 50 years, astronomers have started gathering gamma ray, x-ray, ultraviolet, infrared, and microwave radiation. Finally, the entire symphony of wavelengths rather than just a few notes. But technology has also negatively impacted our view of the nighttime sky through light pollution. The dim light of a distant galaxy is facing more and more competition from businesses that use inefficient lighting that lights the sky as much as it lights the ground. Many communities, including Ellensburg, have passed or are working on ordinances to reduce this costly and sky-robbing stray lighting. Go to http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/topics_mar.htm for more information about the March “Hot Topic”.
Tuesday: Some people dream of moving into a high-rise. Craters on Mars dream of being photographed by HiRISE, the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, the largest telescope ever flown to another planet. It can see details down to one foot across. But, it didn't need much resolution on January 10 when it snapped a picture of twin craters, each about one mile across, connected on their side. The object that made the craters probably broke into two nearly equal sized objects in the thin Martian atmosphere and hit the ground at nearly the same time. For more information, go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/117192413.html.
Wednesday: In this busy world, it is important to know what time it is. We have many devises that give us the time. Our phone, a computer, a watch. But who has time to build a phone, computer or evan a watch. Not you. But everyone has enough time to build a simple Sun Clock. All you need is a pencil, a compass and a print out of the clock template. Go to http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/sunclock.html for more information.
Thursday: Seven sisters are hanging out with the Moon tonight. The open star cluster known as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, is less than a half a fist above the Moon at 7 p.m. Since the Moon is so much brighter than the stars in the cluster, it will be very difficult to see the sisters with the naked eye. Instead, aim your binoculars so the Moon is just below your field of view. The Pleiades will be near or below the middle of your field of view.
Friday: Saturn is three fists above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m. The bright star Spica is below it. Note the difference in the colors of the two objects. Saturn is a yellowish-orange color because of the material in its atmosphere. Spica is a whiteish-blue color because it is glowing like an extra hot light bulb filament. Star color os related to the temperature of the star. Red stars have smaller energy level transitions so they are cool. Blue and whiteish-blue stars have larger energy level transitions so they are hot.
Wait a minute. We got all the way to the end of the week with no Moon phase summary? How can that be? There are 29.5 days between the same Moon phase in two different cycles. That means about 7.5 days between the phases new, first quarter, full and last quarter. Since a week is seven days, there are some weeks in which none of the main phases occur. This week, the Moon was always in the waxing crescent phase.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
Sunday: Jupiter is about a half a fist to the lower left of the Moon at 7 p.m. Enjoy Jupiter while you can because it is moving toward the Sun in the evening sky. Within a couple of weeks, it will be lost in the glare of the setting Sun.
Monday: 2009 was the International Year of Astronomy. Even though 2009 is long gone, astronomy lives on in the “Hot Topic” of the month. For March, the hot topic is observing at night… and in the day. Technology has expanded the amount of information astronomers can learn from observing the sky. Up until the mid 1900s, we studied the sky using a very narrow portion of the electromagnetic spectrum – visible light waves. It was like studying music by listening only to notes of medium pitch. The invention of the radio telescope opened up a new source of information, long wavelength radiation. It also opened a new time to observe the sky – the day time. Radio waves from outer space are not blocked by the sunlit sky like visible light from outer space is. For the past 50 years, astronomers have started gathering gamma ray, x-ray, ultraviolet, infrared, and microwave radiation. Finally, the entire symphony of wavelengths rather than just a few notes. But technology has also negatively impacted our view of the nighttime sky through light pollution. The dim light of a distant galaxy is facing more and more competition from businesses that use inefficient lighting that lights the sky as much as it lights the ground. Many communities, including Ellensburg, have passed or are working on ordinances to reduce this costly and sky-robbing stray lighting. Go to http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/topics_mar.htm for more information about the March “Hot Topic”.
Tuesday: Some people dream of moving into a high-rise. Craters on Mars dream of being photographed by HiRISE, the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, the largest telescope ever flown to another planet. It can see details down to one foot across. But, it didn't need much resolution on January 10 when it snapped a picture of twin craters, each about one mile across, connected on their side. The object that made the craters probably broke into two nearly equal sized objects in the thin Martian atmosphere and hit the ground at nearly the same time. For more information, go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/117192413.html.
Wednesday: In this busy world, it is important to know what time it is. We have many devises that give us the time. Our phone, a computer, a watch. But who has time to build a phone, computer or evan a watch. Not you. But everyone has enough time to build a simple Sun Clock. All you need is a pencil, a compass and a print out of the clock template. Go to http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/sunclock.html for more information.
Thursday: Seven sisters are hanging out with the Moon tonight. The open star cluster known as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, is less than a half a fist above the Moon at 7 p.m. Since the Moon is so much brighter than the stars in the cluster, it will be very difficult to see the sisters with the naked eye. Instead, aim your binoculars so the Moon is just below your field of view. The Pleiades will be near or below the middle of your field of view.
Friday: Saturn is three fists above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m. The bright star Spica is below it. Note the difference in the colors of the two objects. Saturn is a yellowish-orange color because of the material in its atmosphere. Spica is a whiteish-blue color because it is glowing like an extra hot light bulb filament. Star color os related to the temperature of the star. Red stars have smaller energy level transitions so they are cool. Blue and whiteish-blue stars have larger energy level transitions so they are hot.
Wait a minute. We got all the way to the end of the week with no Moon phase summary? How can that be? There are 29.5 days between the same Moon phase in two different cycles. That means about 7.5 days between the phases new, first quarter, full and last quarter. Since a week is seven days, there are some weeks in which none of the main phases occur. This week, the Moon was always in the waxing crescent phase.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.
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