STAR GAZER
THE INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Lorain County JVS NASA CORE / 15181 Route 58 South / 440/775-1400
/ FAX 440/775-1460 / nasaco@leeca.org / http://core.nasa.gov
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers. Next Monday night December 13th from sunset to dawn Tuesday we will be able to see the only known asteroid/meteor shower. Officially it's called the Geminid meteor shower but I like to think of it as the Geminid asteroid shower because it's different than all other meteor showers. We see it every December and it's always one of the best of the year but this year it should be even better because there'll be no bright moonlight to wipe out the faintest meteors. Let me show you.
O.K., we've got our skies set up for next Monday evening December 13th about 8 p.m. Your local time facing east where you'll see some of the brightest stars of winter, the seven bright stars of Orion and just to his left Castor and Pollux the two brightest stars of Gemini the twins. And this is where the Geminid meteor-asteroid shower gets its name because all the meteors appear to come from Gemini. You'll also notice that this year Castor and Pollux are joined by the exquisite ringed planet Saturn. So what can we expect to see of the Geminid meteor shower this year? Well, because there's no bright moonlight, if you're far away from city lights, you may see 40-50 meteors per hour. And by meteors I mean streaks of light flashing across the sky which most people incorrectly call shooting stars.
Now a meteor is nothing more than a tiny speck of space dust which slams into our Earth's atmosphere so fast that its friction heats up the gasses in our Earth's atmosphere and causes them to glow like the gasses in a neon tube and what we see is a brief flashing streak of light as the tiny speck burns up and plunges to its fiery death. Now a few times every year our Earth regularly plows into massive concentrations of this space dust which we call meteor streams. But meteor streams are really great rivers of comet dust and debris. You see comets orbit around our sun just like the planets and every time a comet comes close to our sun it sheds some of its material. Eventually this comet debris gets spread all along its orbit and whenever our Earth plows into one of these space rivers of comet debris we see many more meteors than usual and we call such an event a meteor shower.
The best one usually occurs in August and is called the Perseid meteor shower. The second best is often December's Geminid meteor shower which we now know is different than all other meteor showers because its debris does not come from a comet but from an asteroid named 3200 Phaethon which makes the Geminid meteor shower the only known asteroid shower. This shower is also different from the others because unlike the other showers which are really good only after midnight the Geminids are also good before midnight. So we suggest you do your watching from 8 o'clock Monday night 'til dawn Tuesday morning. Gemini will be overhead around midnight and in the west around dawn. But look all over the sky to see its meteors. Happy asteroid showering and Keep Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
Here)
Horkheimer: On Monday night the 13th from sunset to dawn Tuesday we'll see the Geminid asteroid meteor shower which should be very good because there'll be no bright moon light to wipe out the faintest meteors. After dark face east where you'll see Orion and the two brightest stars of Gemini and Saturn and if you're far from city lights you may see 40 to 50 meteors per hour. At midnight Gemini will be overhead and at dawn in the west. Unlike all other meteor showers, which occur whenever our Earth rides into space rivers of comet debris the Geminid meteor shower occurs every December when we ride into the debris of an asteroid named 3200 Phaethon. So happy asteroid showering, and Keep Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
Here)
* This week's Sky At A Glance and
Planet Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
Starry Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode
of Star Gazer
Lorain County JVS NASA CORE / 15181 Route 58 South / 440/775-1400 / FAX 440/775-1460 / nasaco@leeca.org / http://core.nasa.gov
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers. Next Tuesday
December 21st is the winter solstice, the so called first day
of winter because at 7:42 a.m. Eastern Standard Time the Sun will
reach its farthest point south of the celestial equator. And although
most of us were taught that the winter solstice the first day
of winter is the shortest day of the year, to many people it doesn't
feel like the shortest day of the year. Why? Let me explain.
O.K., we've got our skies set up for the first day of spring in March, which astronomers call the vernal equinox, vernal meaning green and equinox meaning equal night which simply means that on that day the hours of daylight are equal to the hours of night. The Sun also rises exactly due east and sets due west on the equinox. After which it rises and sets each successive day just a little bit farther to the north of east until the first day of summer, the summer solstice, when the Sun reaches its northernmost point along the horizon and actually seems to stand still for a couple of days. In fact the word solstice means "Sun stands still". And most of us were taught that the first day of summer is the longest day of the year meaning the day of longest daylight.
Now after the solstice the Sun appears to reverse its direction and rises and sets just a little bit farther south each successive day. And the amount of daylight gets a little less each day. Then on the first day of autumn, the autumnal equinox, the Sun will once again rise due east and set due west and the amount of daylight will be equal to the amount of night. Then the Sun will continue its journey rising and setting a little bit farther south each day and the amount of daylight will continue to get shorter and nights longer until the first day of winter, the winter solstice, when the Sun will reach its farthest point south and once again appear to solstice, that is stand still. And we will experience the shortest day of the year meaning the day of least sunlight and most night. But experience is a strange word because even though the first day of winter is the shortest day of the year, nevertheless it doesn't feel like it to most people and this feeling can be explained.
You see more people experience sunsets than
sunrises and at mid northern latitudes the earliest sunsets occur
during the first week of December. Sunset actually occurs a little
bit later each day as we move closer to the winter solstice. So
although the days really are getting shorter it's because the
Sun is rising later each morning and since most people judge the
length of a day by sunset time and not sunrise this is why the
days at the beginning of December usually feel shorter than the
actual shortest day of the year. It's simply a matter of human
perception. If however you're an early riser and get up with the
chickens then the first days of January will feel like the shortest
days of the year because that's when the days of latest sunrise
occur. Are you a morning person or an evening person? What feels
like the shortest day to you? Keep Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
Here)
Horkheimer: All our lives we've been told that the first day of winter, December 21st, is the shortest day of the year, but to many people the days at the beginning of December actually feel shorter. Why? Well, today more people experience sunsets than sunrises and at mid-northern latitudes the earliest sunsets occur during the first week of December. So, because sunsets occur a little bit later each day after the first week of December, the days actually feel like they're growing longer toward the end of December. Conversely if you get up with the chickens, the first days of January will feel shorter because that's when the days of latest sunrises occur. I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking Up!
Please give us your comments. (Click
Here)
* This week's Sky At A Glance and
Planet Roundup from Sky & Telescope.Starry Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode
of Star GazerLorain County JVS NASA CORE / 15181 Route 58 South / 440/775-1400 / FAX 440/775-1460 / nasaco@leeca.org / http://core.nasa.gov
Horkheimer: greetings, greetings fellow star gazers
and are we ever gonna end the year right because starting Christmas
week through the end of the year we'll be treated to a pre dawn
sky show with a super close meeting of the two planets closest
to the Sun. Let me show you.
O.K., we've got our skies set up for this Friday December 24th Christmas Eve morning 45 minutes before Sunrise facing southeast where the brightest object you'll see will be the brightest planet in the solar system which is always mistaken for the Christmas star when it appears at this time of the year, planet #2 from the Sun, 8,000 mile wide Venus, and just below it, but only 3% as bright, the elusive planet which makes only brief appearances throughout the year, planet #1 out from the Sun, the tiny 3,000 mile wide pink planet Mercury. And if you've never looked at either of these through a telescope before you'll see that because they are closer to the Sun than our earth they go through phases just like our Moon and change their appearance which makes them a lot of fun to watch through small telescopes.
Now on Christmas Eve morning they'll be only 2 1/2 degrees away from each other and since a full Moon is half a degree wide, this means we could fit 5 full Moons between them. But as you regular viewers know things are always moving and changing position in the cosmos and we can see these changes if we watch from day to day. In fact 24 hours later on Saturday December 25th Christmas Day morning they will be a half a degree closer only 2 degrees apart which means 4 full Moons could fit between them. On the 26th only 1 and 3/4 degrees apart and on the 27th only 1 and 1/2 degrees or 3 full Moon widths apart. On Tuesday 1 and 1/4 degrees apart, Wednesday even closer and on the next 3 days they'll be at their very closest, December 30th, December 31st New Year's Eve morning, and January 1st New Year's Day morning, a little more than one degree or only 2 full Moon widths apart or only one index finger apart, holding your hand out at arm's length. That's close. Now you probably noticed that when we started our watch on Christmas Eve, Venus was above Mercury, only slightly above on Christmas Day and side by side on the 26th and 27th and then changed places. Once again Christmas Eve morning December 24th, Christmas Day the 25th, the 26th, the 27th, the 28th, the 29th and ta da! the three closest days the 30th, the 31st and New Year's Day.
So you've got something wonderful to see every single morning from Christmas through New Years if you get up with the chickens. But remember that this close meeting and passing of the two closest planets to the Sun is only an illusion because in reality next week Mercury will be only 93 million miles away from us while Venus will be a whopping 140 million miles beyond! So starting this holiday week end watch a super sky show ring out the old year. I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
Here)
Horkheimer: From Christmas week through new years the two planets closest to the sun will have a super close meeting. On Christmas eve 45 minutes before sunrise look southeast and you'll see planet #2, often mistaken for the Christmas star, 8,000 mile wide Venus and below it only 2 1/2 degrees or 5 full moon widths away, planet #1, 3,000 mile wide Mercury. On Christmas morning they'll be only 2 degrees apart, on the 26th, 1 3/4 degrees, the 27th,1 1/2, the 28th, 1 1/4, the 29th even closer and they'll be at their closest on the 30th, 31st and New Year's Day, only 1 degree or 2 moon widths apart which is super close! What a way to ring out the old year. Keep Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
Here)
* This week's Sky At A Glance and
Planet Roundup from Sky & Telescope.Starry Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode
of Star GazerLorain County JVS NASA CORE / 15181 Route 58 South / 440/775-1400 / FAX 440/775-1460 / nasaco@leeca.org / http://core.nasa.gov
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers. You know
because there is usually no school on major holidays children
and adults frequently stay up later than usual. So over the years
viewers have asked me to find something special in the heavens
they can see each holiday night. And years ago when I was trying
to find something really special in the heavens for everyone to
see on New Year's Eve I accidentally discovered something absolutely
wonderful, a very special New Year's Eve star which you can see
this New Year's Eve and every New Year's Eve for the rest of your
life. Let me show you.
O.K. we've got our skies set up for 8 p.m. your local time this Friday December 31st New Year's Eve facing due south. And first like all good astronomers do let's draw an imaginary line which divides the eastern half of the sky from the western half, an imaginary line called the meridian which runs from the horizon due south straight up to the zenith point overhead and then down the other side of the sky to the horizon due north. Now as our Earth slowly and endlessly rotates from west to east we are treated nightly to the grandest optical illusion in nature that of watching the stars seem to rise in the east, slowly travel across the sky all night long and eventually set in the west. And if you watch the stars every single night you will eventually deduce that the highest point any star reaches above the horizon in its nightly journey is when it is on the meridian.
Now this is very important to telescope users because the higher a sky object is above the horizon the better its telescopic image will be. So several years ago when I was researching which planets would be high up off the horizon for viewing that New Year's Eve I stumbled across something which to me was and still is an amazing coincidence, something which I had never read about in any astronomy book. That coincidence is that no matter where you happen to be on New Year's Eve, as hour after hour goes by, the brightest star in the heavens Sirius will slowly climb up the southeastern sky and at midnight will reach its highest point almost on the meridian. Think of it the brightest star visible from our planet reaches its highest point above the horizon at midnight every New Year's Eve. How wonderful, how poetic almost like a cosmic reminder that this most brilliant of stellar lights is welcoming in and shining on the new year giving us all hope for a bright new beginning.
Plus as an added bonus if you happen to miss
it on New Year's Eve, don't fret because Sirius will be in almost
the same spot at midnight each night for the first week of the
New Year. And for those who'd like to add a little science to
your New Year's celebration Sirius is a blue-white star, almost
twice as big as our almost million mile wide yellow Sun. And it's
very close cosmically speaking only 8 1/2 light years away which
means that the light which we see when we look at Sirius this
New Year's Eve left it 8 1/2 years ago in June of 1995, something
to think about. So step outside at midnight and make your new
year bright with Sirius' cosmic light. Happy New Year and Keep
Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
Here)
Horkheimer: Did you know that the brightest
star in the heavens reaches its highest point at midnight every
New Year's Eve. I call it the New Year's Eve star. In early evening
New Year's Eve, the brightest star visible from Earth Sirius will
be rising in the southeast, but as hour after hour goes by it
will slowly climb up the southeastern sky and at midnight will
reach its highest point due south. Isn't that a marvelous coincidence?
Sirius is a wonderful star almost twice as big as our Sun and
very close cosmically speaking, only 8 1/2 light years away. Which
means that when we look at Sirius this New Year's Eve we'll see
the light that left it in 1995. Make your New Year bright with
cosmic light. Keep Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
Here)
* This week's Sky At A Glance and
Planet Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only
Starry Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode
of Star Gazer
![[SmilinJack]](jack1sm.jpg)
Return to the [STAR
GAZER Main Page]