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 and mark the 10 days from Monday October 8th through Thursday the 18th as the very best time to see the Milky Way and its bright constellations just after dark because there will be no bright moonlight to interfere and it will arc across the sky from horizon to horizon.
O.K., We've got our skies set up for any night from Monday the 8th through Thursday the 18th, just after it gets dark out. And if you're far from city lights look north and there you'll see 5 stars which, if connected by lines will form an "m" or "w" on its side, the constellation Cassiopeia. And if you have no sky glow from city lights you will also see the Milky Way which looks like a faint milky ribbon of light rising from the horizon right through Cassiopeia.
Then if you look above Cassiopeia you will see that the Milky Way continues stretching all the way to the zenith where 2 of the 3 stars of the Summer Triangle, Deneb and Altair appear to be embedded in it. Then it extends past the zenith downward toward the southern horizon where it gets much wider in the teapot portion of Sagittarius and the rear half of Scorpius.
Now years ago the Milky Way could be easily seen from almost anywhere on moonless nights but today because there's so much city lighting it is wiped out from view for millions of people. In fact urban sky glow is so prevalent most people today have never even seen the Milky Way. So take the opportunity from the 8th to the 18th to get as far away from city lights as possible, and just after dark if there's no sky glow you will see the wonder of the Milky Way for yourself, stretched across the top of the sky from the northern to the southern horizons.
And keep in mind that although the Milky Way
looks like a cosmic cloud it is in fact the combined light of
billions of star so far away that all their light fuzzes together
in a blur. Indeed, if you look anywhere along the Milky Way through
a pair of binoculars you will see what looks like millions of
pinpoints of light, each of which is a star like our sun.
You see our sun is only one of 200 billion stars which make up
the spiral pinwheel of stars we call our galaxy and when we look
at the Milky Way stretched across the sky we are actually looking
at our galaxy edge on from the inside because we are located 2/3
of the way out from the center. And those bright constellations
which appear to be embedded in it are not embedded at all. In
fact they are hundreds and thousands of light years closer to
us. Another one of nature's great optical illusions.
And the reason that the Milky Way is so much
wider in Sagittarius and Scorpius is because when you look here
you are looking directly toward the thick hub of the center of
our galaxy... the center of the family of 200 billion stars we
call home. I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking Up!
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Horkheimer: Our sun is just
one of 200 billion suns gathered together in a group in the shape
of a giant pinwheel which we call our Milky Way Galaxy and we
are located 2/3 of the way out from the center. Now although we'll
never ever be able to see our galaxy from the outside, we can
see it from the inside and at its best from the 8th through the
18th when there will be no moonlight just after it gets dark if
you're far from city lights. It stretches upward from the northern
horizon through Cassiopeia and the Summer Triangle, then past
the zenith down to the southern horizon through the teapot of
Sagittarius and the tail of the Scorpion. See it now, it's the
best insider view in the cosmos. I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking
Up!
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* 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 and you know, just as we have seasons here on earth, so too do the heavens have their seasons. Why?
Well, if our earth were perfectly stationary in the heavens, we would see the same star patterns in the same place every single night. But because our earth is not stationary, but rotates on its axis once every 24 hours from west to east, the stars appear to slowly drift across the sky all night long in the opposite direction, from east to west. Plus, because our earth makes one journey around the sun once every 365 1/4 days our earth changes its position in respect to the stars a little bit each night so that if a given star rises on the horizon at 8 o'clock one night, the following night that same star will rise 4 minutes earlier and will be approximately 1 degree farther along on its journey across the night sky at 8 P.M. Which further means that since any given star rises 4 minutes earlier each successive night and is 1 degree farther along each successive night, after a month any given star will be 30 degrees farther along in its journey across the sky; which further means that after a quarter of a year, the length of a season, any given star will have moved 90 degrees, or a quarter of the way around the entire sky at 8 P.M., and since each season is a quarter of a year long this means that any season you go out in early evening the stars overhead will not be the same stars that were overhead in early evening the previous or following season.
In spring Leo the Lion is always prominent in early evening so we call Leo a spring constellation. In winter Orion is prominent so he is called a winter constellation. And for the same reason Scorpius and Sagittarius are summer constellations. And a sure sign of autumn is the appearance of Pegasus, the Horse and The Pleiades, the Seven Sisters.
Indeed, if you go out in early evening in late October and early November you will see the 4 stars which mark the Great Square of Pegasus almost overhead. And if you look toward the east you will see what looks like a shimmering little cluster of stars called The Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, riding on the shoulder of Taurus the Bull which some people say looks like a bunch of cosmic grapes, or a miniature dipper. My favorite description however is Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem when he wrote, "Many a night I saw the Pleiads rising through the mellow shade, glitter like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid." I'm particularly fond of the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, because when I was a kid in Wisconsin, every autumn The Pleiades reminded me of the smoke of some distant Indian camp fire warming the cool autumn night. What do they look like to you? What do they remind you of?
So get thee outside some night the next few
weeks between 8 and 10 P.M., Look east for the rising Pleiades,
the Seven Sisters and almost overhead for the Great Square of
Pegasus announcing that the stars of summer have turned to the
stars of autumn just as the leaves on earth have turned to red
and gold. I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking Up!
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Horkheimer: Just as we have seasons on earth,
so too do the heavens have their seasons. Because our earth rotates
every 24 hours from west to east, the stars appear to move across
the sky from east to west. Plus, because our earth moves about
the sun, any given star will be 1 degree farther on its journey
at the same time each successive night, or 90 degrees along in
3 months which is a season. In spring Leo is prominent; in winter,
Orion; in summer Scorpius and Sagittarius. And right now the Great
Square of Pegasus and The Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, announcing
that the stars of summer have turned to the stars of autumn, just
as the leaves on earth have turned to red and gold. I'm Jack Horkheimer,
Keep Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
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* 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 this Halloween will be especially wonderful because not only will we have a full moon in the sky all night long, but it will be accompanied at midnight by a group of stars long associated with ancient days of the dead.
O.K., We've got our skies set up for Halloween, Wednesday, October 31st at sunset facing east where you will see an exquisite orange colored full moon just risen above the horizon. And what makes it so special this year is that we will not have a full moon again on Halloween until the year 2020, 19 years from now. Now one of the really fascinating things about having a full moon on Halloween is that as it rises it is always tilted to the left which makes its markings look very much like the caricature of a face. And because whenever a full moon is close to the horizon we look at it through denser layers of our earth's atmosphere, it almost always makes the full moon look orangeish yellow. So whenever we have a full moon on Halloween almost everyone remarks that it looks like a jack-o-lantern. In fact, astronomer Guy Ottewell suggests such full moons rising on Halloween long ago may have prompted the carving of faces on pumpkins at this time of year. So perhaps our jack-o-lantern tradition traces its origins back to an imagined face on ancient moon.
At any rate, as the Halloween moon rises higher and higher as each hour passes, it will slowly lose its yellow-orange color and jack-o-lantern appearance and at the midnight witching hour it will reach its highest point and will shine a brilliant ghostly white, flooding the landscape below so that all the ghosts and goblins can see a little better than usual. Plus if you look up and to the moon's left at midnight almost overhead you will see the tiny group of stars called The Pleiades, the Seven Sisters which, when they are almost overhead at this time of year act as a signal to many peoples past and present that this is the time of year to honor the dead.
Indeed, long ago when The Pleiades reached their highest point around midnight many distant past cultures as far apart as ancient Persia and ancient America held great ceremonies not only honoring their dead but also commemorating a great mythical cataclysm that occurred in ancient times which some have suggested was perhaps the great biblical flood or the 10 plagues of Egypt, or even the sinking of Atlantis. In fact Chaucer and Milton called the Seven Sisterss the Seven Atlantic Sisters which the ancient Aztecs and Mayans believed will be overhead at midnight on the night the world comes to an end. Should we rename them perhaps, the Seven Sinister Sisters?
So get thee out this Halloween
and enjoy the pumpkin-colored jack-o-lantern rising full moon
and at midnight a high flying ghostly white moon accompanied by
the Seven Deadly Sisters making this Halloween even spookier than
usual. I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking Up!
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Horkheimer: This Halloween
will be the last full moon until the year 2020.Look east at sunset
for a pumpkin orange full moon just above the horizon. And because
it will be tilted to the left it will look like a jack-o-lantern,
in fact some astronomers suggest that it was such a full moon
on a halloween long ago that may have prompted the carving of
faces on pumpkins at this time of year. At midnight it will be
at its highest, shining a ghostly white and accompanied by the
Seven Sisters flying overhead which many cultures have long associated
with their days of the dead. And remember, this is the last full
moon on Halloween for 19 years. I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking
Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
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* 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 if you want to see something really nifty you'll be able to watch our nearest neighbor planet, Venus, travel side by side with the first planet out from the sun, Mercury, for a week and a half in pre-dawn skies in a sight that will be wonderful to the naked eye, and even more wonderful through a pair of binoculars and spectacular through a small telescope.
O.K., We've got our skies set up, facing east, 45 minutes before sunrise this Saturday, October 27th where you will see the brilliant 8 thousand mile wide planet Venus hovering only 1 degree away from the 3 thousand mile wide pink iron planet, Mercury. And in case you've forgotten what 1 degree is, half of 1 degree is 1 full moon width wide, so 1 degree is 2 full moons lined up side by side. And indeed, on Saturday the 27th you will barely be able to squeeze 2 full moons between Venus and Mercury. Now whenever 2 planets come this close they usually remain this close for only 1 or 2 days, but this is an exception and a wonderful one because if you happen to miss this close meeting on Saturday you will be able to see Venus and Mercury within 1 degree of each other, not for just 2 days, or even 3 days, but believe it or not, for a full week and a half. In fact they will travel together like synchronized swimmers down toward the horizon and will remain less than 1 degree away from each other from October 27th through November 7th, which is really, really special.
You see, usually when planets visually meet one of them is much closer to earth and traveling much faster than the other and so their close meetings last for only 1 or 2 days. But this is an exception because Venus' and Mercury's orbits are positioned right now in such a way that both planets appear to be moving at nearly the same speed. And although right now Venus is 50 million miles farther away from us than Mercury right now, they are on the same line of sight and will appear to travel on the same visual path for a week and a half, although they weren't doing that a couple of weeks ago.
You see, back on October 15th Mercury was just
beginning its climb into pre-dawn skies, moving a little higher
each successive day while Venus was continuing its slow day by
day descent down toward the horizon. And as each day went by Venus'
descent and Mercury's ascent made it obvious that they would soon
have a close meeting. In fact on Thursday this week they are only
2 degrees apart and on Friday only 1 and 3/4 degrees. But ta da!
by Saturday they are less than 1 degree apart and will remain
so until Wednesday November 7th. And if you watch closely, especially
with a pair of binoculars you will see an intricate turn around
maneuver by Mercury all the while maintaining less than 1 degree
separation from Venus. Indeed, Mercury will climb for a few days
but will then stop and then turn around and descend side by side
with Venus, toward the horizon, all the while separated by less
than 1 degree. What a show! So get thee out before dawn and watch
the side by side planets every morning for a week and a half.
I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking Up!
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Horkheimer: Every once in a while 2 planets
will meet and appear side by side. And such meetings usually last
only a day or two. But next week Mercury and Venus will meet and
travel side by side for 11 days. On October 15th Mercury began
its upward climb while Venus continued its slow descent and on
Thursday this week were only 2 degrees apart; Friday 1-3/4 degrees;
but ta da! by Saturday they are less than 1 degree apart and will
remain so 'til Wednesday, November 7. And if you watch closely,
especially with binoculars you will see an intricate turn around
maneuver by Mercury all the while maintaining less than 1 degree
distance from Venus. Side by side planets for a week and a half.
I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
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* 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. Right now we have 5 planets for your perusal. So whether
you're an early evening, late evening or just before sunrise planet
watcher we've got at least 1 planet for your viewing pleasure.
O.K., We've got our skies set up for this week and next just after
sunset, facing south where the brightest thing you'll see will
be 4,000 mile wide Mars. It's just to the left of the teapot shaped
portion of Sagittarius, shining brightly among the dim, dim stars
of Capricorn. And because it is now 58 million miles farther away
from us than it was when it was at its closest on the first night
of summer, it is now only 1/8th as bright. Things really change
fast in the cosmos.
So if you're lonesome for really bright planets you're gonna have to wait until 10 P.M. and look east. Indeed, on Saturday, November 3rd at 10 P.M. You'll see brilliant 88,000 mile wide Jupiter just above the horizon. And above it our 2,000 mile wide, 3 days past full moon and just above it, 75,000 mile wide Saturn. And to its right the brightest star in Taurus the Bull, Aldebaran. On the next night, Sunday the 4th the moon will hover between Jupiter and Saturn and on Monday night, November 5th you'll be able to watch a moon and planet show as an exquisite waning gibbous moon approaches, visits and then moves past Jupiter.
Let's start at 9 o'clock when the moon will be only 2 degrees away from Jupiter. At 10, 1 and 3/4 degrees; at 11, 1 and is 1/4 degrees and at its closest at midnight, barely more than 1 degree away. Then by 1 A.M. it says goodbye to Jupiter and is 1 and 1/4 degrees away. At 2 A.M. 1 and 1/2 degrees. At 3 A.M. 1 and 3/4 degrees and at 4 A.M. 2 degrees. Wow! So you'll be able to track the moon and Jupiter across the sky all night long. And through binoculars or a small telescope they should look absolutely spectacular as they glide side by side up and across the heavens.
And in case you're wondering what those 2 bright stars are to the left of the moon and Jupiter, they are Castor and Pollux, the 2 brightest stars in Gemini the Twins. Now for you early birds let me briefly remind you that this week through November 7th if you look east 45 minutes before sunrise each morning you will see the brightest planet of them all, 8,000 mile wide Venus less than 1 degree away from the pink iron planet, 3,000 mile wide Mercury. In fact they will remain less than 1 degree apart from each other through Wednesday the 7th. Wow!
5 planets for your perusal: Mars high in the
south just after sunset; Saturn and Jupiter in the east from 10
o'clock on; the moon just below Saturn on the 3rd; and on the
evening of the 5th and morning of the 6th, the moon will track
all night long across the sky with Jupiter. And for you early
birds, Venus and Mercury will hover side by side before dawn through
the middle of next week. Get out those binoculars and telescopes
and you'll have a wonderful time, I guarantee. I'm Jack Horkheimer,
Keep Looking Up!
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Horkheimer: Right now we have 5 pretty planets
for your perusal. Just after sunset face south and you'll see
4,000 mile wide Mars just to the left of the teapot of Sagittarius
in Capricorn. Around 10 P.M. look east and you'll see 88,000 mile
wide Jupiter and 75,000 mile wide Saturn. And on Monday night
you'll be able to watch the moon as it approaches, visits and
then moves past Jupiter. Start watching at 9 o'clock and check
them out every hour. Plus now through next Wednesday look east
before sunrise because 8,000 mile wide Venus and 3,000 mile wide
Mercury will appear side by side for several days in a row. Get
out those binoculars now. I'm Jack Horkheimer, Keep Looking Up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
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* 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
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